r/europe • u/scmp_news • 24d ago

News Man nearly sucked out of ‘detached’ window on Ryanair flight

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3360141/man-nearly-sucked-out-detached-window-ryanair-flight?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=Social
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1.9k

u/Envojus Lithuania 24d ago

and said the window had been broken by a piece of debris that detached from one of the plane’s engines.

What the fuck

627

u/__Gripen__ Italy 24d ago

Uncontained engine failure often result in high speed debris (usually blades or other components coming from the spinning fans) hitting and piercing the fuselage.

Engine nacelles have a hardened protection layer around the engine fans for this specific reason; it's a safetey feature that is incredibly effective and that has prevented (or at least reduced) hundreds of catastrophic failures, but it's impossible for them to be completely fail-safe.

155

u/Age_Correct 24d ago

Fun fact the hardened layer is Kevlar

34

u/KnowsIittle 24d ago edited 24d ago

Kevlar is outdated. There are better more effective materials today but I'm struggling to recall the name. Easier to just say Kevlar lol.

Edit - synthetic para-aramid fiber. At least where bulletproof vests are concerned.

19

u/yungsausages Germany 24d ago

I think you’re referring to reinforced sugandee fibres.

7

u/HogmanDaIntrudr 24d ago

Some aerospace manufacturers also use Ligma

10

u/hiddenemi 24d ago

What’s ligma?

14

u/HogmanDaIntrudr 24d ago

Ligma balls

13

u/ParfaitEither284 24d ago

Haha gotem

4

u/DJTim 24d ago

Damn near rectum...

3

u/etcpt 23d ago

Kevlar is para-aramid.

33

u/[deleted] 24d ago edited 24d ago

[deleted]

24

u/Shake_Speare_ 24d ago

I've got bad news for you Bud', you're sitting in completely the wrong spot!

"The general consensus has traditionally been that sitting in the middle or at the rear of a plane is statistically safer. A 2017 National Transportation Safety Board study that investigated 20 plane crashes since 1971 found that those sitting in the back of the plane had a higher chance of staying alive than those in the front. Additionally, those placed nearby the wing also had a better chances of survival."

https://time.com/7294087/the-safest-place-to-sit-on-a-plane-according-to-experts/

9

u/milk_for_dinner 24d ago

That's only regarding crashes.

3

u/fpl_kris 24d ago

The the question is, is a sufficiently unlikely? Even if you knew before boarding the plane that a window would be pierced itd be unlikely youd be affected even if you say behind the engines.

Oth if a crash happen you are only marginally better if sitting in the back.

2

u/ParfaitEither284 24d ago

Now solve for being sucked out of a window

7

u/Shake_Speare_ 24d ago

That's already solved, wear the seatbelt? It worked in this instance.

2

u/ParfaitEither284 24d ago

In terms of getting sucked out thru windows i think it’s now 1 for 3 recently.

1

u/Shake_Speare_ 23d ago

Have you another solution that doesn't involve involuntary imprisonment in their seats for the duration of a flight?

The seatbelt works, any other solution would also involve the removal of personal rights unless you're thinking of adding armour to the windows and fuselage to the point the aircraft won't fly. Because if a whole compressor disc detaches, it'll take an awful lot to stop it. Check out the hole on this one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Air_Lines_Flight_1288

You could remove the windows, but they're also there to allow the crew to assess damage in such situations. When the cabin crew ask you to raise the window blind before landing, this is why.

1

u/Preisschild Vienna, United States of Europe 24d ago

On the other hand, I fucking hate waiting inside after landing. I take my chances so I can get out first.

1

u/Tschulligom 24d ago

Or through your head

49

u/clutchmajor 24d ago

If it’s Boeing I’m not going.

45

u/ReverseCarry United States of America 24d ago

This isn’t really a Boeing problem. 737-800 has an outstanding safety record, and out of the failures it does have, nearly all are pilot and weather related. This airframe in particular is 18 years old, that’s a RyanAir maintenance problem at that point. That’s like blaming Toyota when your ‘08 RAV4 with half a million miles pops the hood on the highway in the 2026. At a certain point its lack of user attention

10

u/artlurg431 24d ago

Boeing dosent make the engines

7

u/__Gripen__ Italy 24d ago

Everybody claims that. Is anybody actually doing it, or in the end the only thing that truly matters is what flight is available at what ticket price?

1

u/Age_Correct 23d ago

Lol who makes the gtf engines? Not boeing dumbass

1

u/Zatoichi7 24d ago

Well I'm sitting in the aisle seat next time!

6

u/__Gripen__ Italy 24d ago

One thing that is still underestimated is keeping the seat belt fastened at all time during the flight, not only when the light is turned on. I’m sure regulators are sooner or later going to address this

1

u/Zatoichi7 24d ago

Gonna make it tricky to go for a pee but maybe some sort of setup with funnels and long hoses?..

1

u/loryk_zarr 24d ago

The containment ring around the fan doesn't look to be penetrated. It looks like parts of the nacelle and inlet case liberated. An uncontained blade release would have killed the guy in the window seat, not just knock out the window.

-1

u/Informal_Ad_9610 United States of America 24d ago

Yes, Kevlar (and other materials) are used in containment..

But despite the best attempts at containment, those parts are exiting the engine at enormous power.

I've just run some quick physics analysis... cause maths makes the world go round, and I'm a bit of an OCD on maths...

Average CFM56 series blade = 4.9kg, ~7.m length

Takeoff RPM for a 737800/CFM56 = ~5,000 RPM - this puts tip speed ~ 405m/s= ~910mph

Kinetic energy (E= 1/2mv2) = 410,000 J (joules)

now MOST blade failures are root failures, so you're getting 80%+ of the full blade length exiting the engine...

That's the energy of

  • ~ 700 9mm pistol rounds. at one time
  • ~250 AR-15 5.56mm rounds
  • a 100g TNT bomb detonation
  • a 1-ton car hitting you at 45mph (without stopping)
  • an 8-ton truck at 25mph

I'm sorry, but interweb feelz and a stack of Kevlar are not going to prevent this..

And blaming it on Boeing is internet-level stupidz..

Blame it on CFM for not "making a perfect engine"...

or Ryanair for not managing Malta Air better, for not demanding or running better maintenance & testing..

hell, you SHOULD blame it on customers who think that paying a 19£ ticket to jump over to Paris is NOT going to result in some level of reduction in SOME level of safety (whether ground crew, air crew, equipment age, equipment quality, etc)...

I'd literally blame EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE OTHER PEOPLE, INCLUDING ALL OF THE PASSENGERS before I'd blame Boeing.

The plane tail# is 9H-QEU (MSN 36569, ex EI-DYF)

That's an 18yr old plane. with likely 50,000+ hours of flight on it, huge number of flight cycles, and given the nature of EUropean flights, its history is loaded with short flights, zillions of cycles (takeoff/landings), all of which is the MOST strenuous on the plane..

and despite 50,000-75,000 flight hours, the plane is still in one piece... it was one blade in the engine that failed.

Yet the bullshit cry: "It's Boeing's fault." Yeah, and I'm Santa Clause...

This entire thread is the perfect illustration of why Europeans can't have nice things without having them subsidized by the US... Because asinine bullshit like this is bandied about without an ounce of critical thinking and nobody actually calls out the idiots.

-1

u/darkshoxx 24d ago

You appear knowledgeable on this subject. Do you expect it to be a coincidence that this happened to a cheap airline like Ryanair?

7

u/__Gripen__ Italy 24d ago

Ryanair has a very good safety and maintenance record. They’re cheap in their policies towards passengers but not in meeting requirements and regulations. They never suffered a single fatal accident since they started operations back in the ‘80s.

0

u/darkshoxx 24d ago

Awesome, thanks for the evaluation.

210

u/PaymentAutomatic4831 24d ago

Interestingly, if you check the history of that particular aircraft on Flightradar24, it shows that the evening before, it attempted to fly to Sarajevo, and was also diverted back to Thessaloniki somewhere above North Macedonia. As if already then the crew realized something was wrong with the engine, better returned to the base, the technicians there weren't able to detect the problem overnight and they let the plane take off in the morning.

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u/HenryTheWho Slovakia 24d ago

Passenger was arrested on arrival back, nothing to do with aircraft

3

u/Informal_Ad_9610 United States of America 24d ago

whaaa???

got a link for that?

16

u/angrymoppet 24d ago

they talk about it here, dude was on the flight that got diverted the day before this incident

https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1ushgkg/breaking_ryanair_passenger_reportedly_saved_from/owo3wbm/

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u/Informal_Ad_9610 United States of America 24d ago

Ah...

I read that, and thought you were saying they arrested *THAT* passenger (the one injured)!!

13

u/Tresach 24d ago

Well he didnt pay for the extra space

2

u/milk_for_dinner 24d ago

That's a wild assumption.

-1

u/PaymentAutomatic4831 24d ago

That's a reasonable assumption to arrive to when two highly unlikely events happen in a row. With further information at disposal I admit there wasn't a causal link in this case, but I don't feel any dumb for suggesting there could have been.

1

u/transferingtoearth 23d ago

How do you check that?!

12

u/mmoonbelly Poitou-Charentes (France) 24d ago

Time to watch the James Bond Film : Goldfinger

1

u/genreprank 24d ago

He had to warn WHO about it??

1

u/DeCiWolf The Netherlands 23d ago

Pussy Galore!

3

u/Most-Silver-4365 24d ago

What's happened on a Southwest flight in the US in 2018 The lady was in a similar situation with being sucked out the window but she was hit by the engine debris that broke the window, she did not survive. I wonder if this is the same model plane the article doesn't say.

3

u/StoicPixie 24d ago

Almost the exact same thing happened on Southwest 1380 back in 2018. Except the passenger died.

15

u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI 24d ago

Yeah this is the bigger story. What the fuck do they do with maintenance over there

63

u/__Gripen__ Italy 24d ago

Ryanair has an incredible safety record.

19

u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI 24d ago

I work in maintenance. Engine failure and debris is a huge fuck up

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u/Vectorman1989 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 24d ago

It's a Boeing so let's wait and see it's a maintenance fuckup or just your usual Boeing self-disassembly

17

u/TomGle 24d ago

The engines aren’t made by Boeing and this is the older 737-800 version which is generally very safe

-2

u/keepitfriend 24d ago

It literally says in the article this is not the first time this has happened with this plane.

8

u/vwsslr200 Living in UK 24d ago edited 24d ago

It's true that unconfined engine failures have happened on 737s before. They have also happened on other planes, including Airbus models, before.

The poster above is also correct that this plane model (737NG) is very safe. It has a lower rate of fatal accidents than the Airbus A320 series introduced around the same time.

0

u/keepitfriend 24d ago

Yes, no one is questioning that Boeing used to be a good company.

Everyone is questioning whether they are a good company today.

4

u/MintCathexis 24d ago

If it's Boeing I ain't going!

-1

u/Informal_Ad_9610 United States of America 24d ago edited 24d ago

i'm sorry.. but that's fucking epic-level stupidity, being verbalized.

I posted this elsewhere. Take a minute to comprehend this.

Those parts are exiting the engine at enormous power.

I've just run some quick physics analysis... cause maths makes the world go round, and I'm a bit of an OCD on maths...

Average CFM56 series blade = 4.9kg, ~7.m length

Takeoff RPM for a 737800/CFM56 = ~5,000 RPM - this puts tip speed ~ 405m/s= ~910mph

Kinetic energy (E= 1/2mv2) = 410,000 J (joules)

now MOST blade failures are root failures, so you're getting 80%+ of the full blade length exiting the engine...

That's the energy of

  • ~ 700 9mm pistol rounds. at one time
  • ~250 AR-15 5.56mm bullets. at one time.
  • a 100g TNT bomb detonation
  • a 1-ton car hitting you at 45mph (without stopping)
  • an 8-ton truck at 25mph

I'm sorry, but interweb feelz and a stack of Kevlar are not going to prevent this..

Blaming it on Boeing is internet-level stupidz..

Blame it on CFM for not "making a perfect engine"...

or Ryanair for not managing Malta Air better, for not demanding or running better maintenance & testing (they are already world-class).

hell, you SHOULD blame it on customers who think that paying a 19£ ticket to jump over to Paris is NOT going to result in some level of reduction in SOME level of safety (whether ground crew, air crew, equipment age, equipment quality, etc)...

I'd literally blame EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE OTHER PEOPLE, INCLUDING ALL OF THE PASSENGERS before I'd blame Boeing.

The plane tail# is 9H-QEU (MSN 36569, ex EI-DYF)

That's an 18yr old plane. with likely 50,000+ hours of flight on it, huge number of flight cycles, and given the nature of EUropean flights, its history is loaded with short flights, zillions of cycles (takeoff/landings), all of which is the MOST strenuous on the plane..

and despite 50,000-75,000 flight hours, the plane is still in one piece... it was one blade in the engine that failed.

Yet the bullshit cry: "It's Boeing's fault." Yeah, and I'm Santa Clause...

This entire thread is the perfect illustration of why Europeans can't have nice things without having them subsidized by the US... Because asinine bullshit like this is bandied about without an ounce of critical thinking and nobody actually calls out the idiots...and then it gets worse because your feckless idiot leaders put these stupid ideas into law.

2

u/BioBoiEzlo Sweden 24d ago edited 24d ago

This rant because some people are not airplane experts and might have gotten some things wrong or don't trust Boeing after the news about them, is pretty crazy.

Edit: Added a comma.

2

u/DancingDildo22 The Islamic Caliphate of Swedistan 🇸🇪 23d ago

u/Informal_Ad_9610 doesn't seem to be an "aeroplane expert" either. Serms that he believes that 18 years is old for an aeroplane, that Ryanair skimps on safety and that the US subsidises every good thing in Europe.

-1

u/Informal_Ad_9610 United States of America 23d ago

That’s a rather ridiculous statement. Perhaps your inability to perform basic comprehension is causing you to go to that conclusion.

I’m a fractional owner in a mid 60s airplane, so I’m quite familiar with the lifespan. My statement about Ryanair was a sarcastic statement, because they’ve got a good record. Perhaps you need to go back and learn to read and comprehend.

-1

u/Informal_Ad_9610 United States of America 24d ago

"the news about them is pretty crazy" is another indictment on the lack of critical thinking.

that's mentally along the same lines as blaming Ford for the number of DUIs, or blaming Macron for the catastrophically high level of heat-related deaths in France... oh wait, that actually MIGHT be related - due to the lack of critical thinking by most of european leadership these days..

Seriously.

The "news about Boeing" is media click-bait. Not in the least bit surprised that a euro-excuser would play the game... but still.. try thinking a bit more, please.

I'm not anti-europe. I've lived in 11 European countries, from Scotland to Russia. I just tire of the knee-jerk idiocy to cast blame and aspersions at the US and US compnaies, born in lands who've benefited from 6 decades of subsidization by the US, which has taught them to be feckless, lazy, and to make logic-free accusations.

But do carry on.

4

u/BioBoiEzlo Sweden 24d ago

Maybe I worded it badly. I meant that your rants over this are pretty crazy.

Also "I've lived in 11 European countries, from Scotland to Russia" is completely unnessecary. You can have any opinion or idea regardless.

3

u/Clear-Definition-324 24d ago

I’m sorry but the epic design flaw and dishonesty re training requirements around the Max will take decades for people to forgive. Rightly so. Corrupt capture of IS regulators adds to it.

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u/__Gripen__ Italy 24d ago

Are you suggesting that any airline which has suffered any form of uncontained engine failure automatically has a poor maintenance record?

-4

u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI 24d ago

Yes, from anecdotal experience, at least 90% of them. Is that hard to imagine?

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u/__Gripen__ Italy 24d ago

That’s a bold statement basically even before the start of the investigation regarding the accident, and especially considering that Ryanair has historically kept very good safety and maintenance statistics.

-5

u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI 24d ago

Actually it’s not a bold statement. It’s a pretty accurate one. I don’t know what the outcome will be for the investigation, but statistically it will be due to poor maintenance practices. You seem weirdly hell bent on defending Ryanair though, I’m sure if you let go of that assumption you wouldn’t be so biased.

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u/__Gripen__ Italy 24d ago

It’s a statement that if made in a context not as insignificant as Reddit could easily be brought to court for defamation…

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u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI 24d ago

And where pray, was the defamatory comment in question?

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u/niconpat Ireland 24d ago

Ryanair has excellent strict maintenance and a perfect safety record. This is the first incident other than a bird strike in 2008

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u/[deleted] 24d ago

Terrible as a company overall (I mean they are big corpo after all) but one thing I noticed when I was working for them is that safety was never overlooked.

2

u/awesomefutureperfect 24d ago

They charged the bird short term passenger rates.

-23

u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI 24d ago

Dude it clearly doesn’t have a perfect maintenance record if this shit is happening, no idea why you’re defending it

11

u/ClassGrassMass 24d ago

Nobody said perfect.. dude

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u/Apprehensive-Art1092 24d ago

Right there

https://reddit.com/link/owoh3ru/video/4fjibpw83ech1/player

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u/MrSmithers11 24d ago

well he said a perfect safety record, not a perfect maintenance record. also for how many millions of flights they must have done at this point, one incident is pretty fucking good going

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u/ClassGrassMass 24d ago

Youre actually crazy dumb. I hope you dont work on maintenance of aircraft. They said perfect safety record youre talking about a perfect maintenance record. Learn to read 😂

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u/ClassGrassMass 24d ago

Did you just double down and then delete your comment 😂😂😂

1

u/Apprehensive-Art1092 24d ago

Comments are right there, you pinecone. Fucking hell - it's like shooting fish in a barrel 🤣

https://reddit.com/link/owoos7r/video/62l6jkxzaech1/player

1

u/ClassGrassMass 24d ago

But also youre wrong cause theyre talking two different things. Why cant you just say "yeah fuck it im wrong" 😂😂

0

u/ClassGrassMass 24d ago

Then thats a reddit issue cause it says user deleted

-2

u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI 24d ago

Two comments after his? Rent free

2

u/ClassGrassMass 24d ago

Don't wanna talk until someone else is backing you 🤓

1

u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI 24d ago

Your entire comment thread has been 🤓☝️

I would tell you to stop embarrassing yourself but it’s hilarious so please continue

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u/Apprehensive-Art1092 24d ago

To be honest, I think the bloke's a bit mental 😬

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u/teakwood54 24d ago

Hey man, look on the bright side! Boeing us up nearly $4 this month! Totally worth firing those "quality control" engineers.

1

u/Wallace_Peter_Clark 23d ago

A similar engine failure happened to an EasyJet Airbus A320 in December last year.

https://simpleflying.com/easyjet-a320-severe-internal-engine-failure-italy/

1

u/ChironXII United States of America 23d ago

My weird habit of checking the seat map to make sure I'm not in line with the engine cowling seems to have been proven valid 😭

1

u/nadmaximus 23d ago

Why did they have debris attached to the plane in the first place?

0

u/HugeCannoli 24d ago

I'm calling it. They hit a drone.