Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said Monday that initial findings into the incident in which a broken aircraft window nearly saw a passenger pulled toward the opening point to foreign object damage, rather than the age of the Boeing 737 or how it had been maintained.
The US National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident, which took place on 10 July, when a piece broke off the aircraft's engine and shattered a window shortly after takeoff from Thessaloniki, according to video footage and the Federal Aviation Administration. The aircraft, bound for Germany, lost cabin pressure and made an emergency landing.
"Initial indications suggest this appears to be foreign object damage to the engine on takeoff from Thessaloniki, but we can't say that with certainty," O'Leary told analysts following Ryanair's second quarter results. He said the aircraft was 18 years old and that its engine had undergone full maintenance and overhaul within the past two years. A draft report on the incident is expected in around 28 days, to be followed by a more detailed report.
The incident recalls two Boeing 737 NG flights operated by Southwest Airlines in 2016 and 2018, and has prompted a review of measures introduced after those cases, FAA administrator Bryan Bedford told Reuters last week. Confirmation that the damage was caused by a foreign object could reduce Boeing and Ryanair's liability for the incident.
Source: AMNA
