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NTSB Says Engine Fragments Burst Window on Ryanair 737-800 Near Thessaloniki

US investigators, who have taken over the inquiry from Greece, say broken components from the right engine shattered the window beside a passenger who was partially pulled through the opening; the cause of the engine failure has not been determined.

By AI ReporterFirst reported Jul 10, 2026, 5:02 p.m. ETUpdated Aug 14, 2026, 10:05 a.m. ET
Developing

This is a developing story. Details reported early are provisional and are frequently revised. Where sources disagree, both readings are given.

More on this incident

The involved in the engine failure and cabin depressurization near , , has been identified as , according to Aerotime. The aircraft was operated by , according to Aerotime, AirlineGeeks and The Air Current. Aircraft registry records list as a Boeing twin-engine jet landplane registered in Malta. Sources disagree on the date: The Air Current, Aerotime and AirlineGeeks place the accident on July 10, 2026, while The Air Current also gives July 10, 2025. The Air Current reported it occurred on a — July 10, 2026 fell on a Friday — and that flight had departed International Airport for Memmingen, Germany, with people aboard. The Air Current reported the jet was climbing through about 16,000 feet when the No. 2 engine began vibrating and a loud bang was heard. The number two CFM56-7B26 engine was heavily damaged; a fan blade separation struck the fuselage and the right horizontal stabilizer, engine fragments pierced the fuselage and the cabin depressurized. AirlineGeeks reported on August 14 that the NTSB said Thursday that broken components from the right engine burst the window next to the passenger. A 61-year-old passenger seated next to the window that blew out was partially pulled into the opening before other passengers dragged him back inside, suffering neck and shoulder injuries and friction burns, according to The Air Current, which reported one person injured. Witnesses described the passenger as being partially sucked out of the aircraft. The flight returned to and landed safely about an hour after departure. The cause has not been determined, and the sources characterize the state of the inquiry differently: The Air Current and Aerotime describe the findings as , while The Air Current and AirlineGeeks describe the investigation as open. Aerotime reported that the US National Transportation Safety Board said investigators found bird remains inside components of the No. 2 engine — remains sent to the Smithsonian Institution's Feather Identification Lab in Washington, DC — and that the cause of the accident remains under investigation. AirlineGeeks reported that Greek investigators found bird remains in the engine but say the exact cause of the failure is still under review. The Air Current reported the NTSB said the blades were most recently inspected on May 24, and that ultrasonic inspections of the fan blades in November 2025 and May 2026 reported no damage. All three outlets reported that flight crews had logged four suspected bird strikes to the damaged engine in the 12 months preceding the accident, that maintenance inspections after those four events identified no damage, and that investigators recovered three loose fan blade fragments from the engine. Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, said on July 20 that a foreign object had struck the aircraft, according to Aerotime and The Air Current, a statement that drew a rebuke from Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the NTSB. The outlets also reported that the FAA issued three airworthiness directives in 2025 requiring modifications to reduce the risk of engine inlet and cowling debris, that the engine lacked the reinforcements recommended in those directives, that this aircraft had not yet received the major modifications they require, and that Boeing 737 Next Generation operators have until July 2028 to comply. The reporting draws a comparison to an April 2018 uncontained blade-out event on a Southwest Boeing 737-700 that killed one passenger. The sources report that officially handed over the investigation to the NTSB, which appointed an accredited representative, with technical advisors from the FAA, Boeing and GE Aerospace standing by; investigating bodies listed also include investigators in and the Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation Committee (AAIIC) of the Republic of North Macedonia. CFM International, which manufactures the CFM56 engines used on the 737-800, is assisting investigators. NTSB records for this airframe list one case, DCA26FA274, dated July 10, 2026 at Polykastro; the record itself says nothing about the cause of this accident.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Registration
9H-QEU
Type
BOEING — twin-engine jet landplane
Terrain elevation
23 ft
Nearest aerodrome
8.6 miles NNW of Thessaloniki Macedonia International Airport (LGTS/SKG)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 914 Aug 2026, 14:05current

    Added AirlineGeeks' August 14 report that the NTSB said broken right-engine components burst the passenger's window and that Greek investigators found bird remains but the failure cause is still under review, plus the official handover of the investigation from Greece to the NTSB.

  2. Version 814 Aug 2026, 00:52current

    Gave Michael O'Leary a full introduction (name, title as chief executive officer, and his connection to the operator) in a dedicated sentence before anything attributed to him, and referred to him afterward by title rather than surname alone; likewise introduced Jennifer Homendy by full name, title and organization. Moved that material into its own paragraph for clarity. Deleted the paragraph asserting registry records of 70 Ryanair aircraft, 66 of them Poland-registered 737-800 variants, as no such figures appear in the fact set. Kept both date variants (July 10, 2026 and July 10, 2025) and both inquiry-status descriptions (open and preliminary) as sourced conflicts with neither favored, and kept all attribution to The Air Current, the May 24 inspection date and the July 2028 compliance deadline exactly as given.

  3. Version 814 Aug 2026, 05:03

    No new facts; headline and dek revised to lead with the NTSB's bird-remains finding and the undetermined cause, wording otherwise unchanged.

  4. Version 77 Aug 2026, 15:09

    Removed the geographic reference-data paragraph as redundant for an event already located at a named city and airport; tightened closing line on investigation status.

  5. Version 714 Aug 2026, 04:57

    Restructured to five paragraphs, moving the altitude and onset-of-failure detail into the sequence-of-events lead; no new facts added.

  6. Version 614 Aug 2026, 04:52

    Rewrote headline and dek to lead with the NTSB's bird-remains finding and the recovered blade fragments; clarified that the NTSB airframe case record says nothing about this accident's cause.

  7. Version 64 Aug 2026, 23:39

    No new verified facts; wording tightened and headline/dek clarified, with cause still undetermined.

  8. Version 514 Aug 2026, 04:22

    Headline and dek reframed around the NTSB's bird-remains finding and the undetermined cause; body unchanged in substance.

  9. Version 54 Aug 2026, 23:28

    No new facts in this update; headline and dek revised to state the injury and safe return, story text otherwise unchanged.

  10. Version 44 Aug 2026, 23:20

    Removed the incorrect claim that the aircraft's registration is unknowable, stating only that it is not identified in the available facts.

  11. Version 414 Aug 2026, 04:17

    Noted that July 10, 2026 fell on a Friday, matching the reported Friday-morning timing; condensed the closing paragraphs on the airworthiness directives and investigating bodies.

  12. Version 314 Aug 2026, 04:12

    Attributed the Ryanair chief executive's foreign-object statement to the two reporting outlets by name and consolidated it with the airworthiness-directive paragraph.

  13. Version 34 Aug 2026, 20:07

    Added a paragraph stating the aircraft has not been identified by registration and why, and corrected the airport bearing description in the reference-data paragraph.

  14. Version 214 Aug 2026, 04:08

    n/a for schema compversantness statary paragraph.''chair.O'Leary reference is now the first mention of him in the story.'foHomendy rebuke retained.'foLeary statement moved into its own paragraph with a full appositive introduction ("Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair"), and the follow-up reference identifies him again by role ("The airline chief executive's account"). Homendy is likewise introduced by name and role. No facts, figures, codes or attributions were added, removed or altered; the airworthiness-directive material was split into its own paragraph for readability. changelog: The O'Leary statement was moved into its own paragraph with a full appositive introduction ("Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair"), and the follow-up reference re-identifies him by role. Jennifer Homendy is introduced by name and role. No facts, figures, codes or attributions were changed; the airworthiness-directive material was split into a separate paragraph.

  15. Version 24 Aug 2026, 20:03

    Corrected the garbled geographic reference paragraph and clarified that the AAIIC and NTSB are the investigating bodies.

  16. Version 14 Aug 2026, 18:10

    First published.

  17. Version 114 Aug 2026, 04:04

    First published.

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