The engine failure that blew out a cabin window on a Ryanair jet on 10 July 2026, partially ejecting a passenger into open air, was caused by a broken fan blade — and bird remains were found inside the damaged engine, according to a preliminary report issued on August 13 by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The incident occurred shortly after Ryanair flight FR1879 departed Thessaloniki, Greece, bound for Memmingen, Germany. A fan blade broke loose from the Boeing 737-800's right engine, sending fragments that shattered a cabin window and damaged the fuselage in several other locations, CBC News reported.
The aircraft was operated by Malta Air, a subsidiary of Ryanair, and is believed to be 18 years old. Tracking data showed it had been airborne for approximately 10 minutes when it dropped around 9,000 feet before turning back to Thessaloniki.
Ljubisa Karović, a 61-year-old Serbian passenger, had his head and right shoulder sucked through the broken window. His wife, Svetlana Grković Maksimović, and two other passengers grabbed hold of him and pulled him back inside after nearly two minutes, according to the BBC. Karović suffered neck and shoulder injuries and friction burns, CBC News reported. The full extent of his long-term injuries has not been confirmed.
The cabin lost pressure when the window shattered, causing oxygen masks to drop from the ceiling, The Guardian reported.
The NTSB's preliminary report confirmed the fan-blade-out event and noted the presence of bird remains, including feathers, inside the damaged engine — suggesting a possible bird strike on takeoff. The agency has not, however, definitively established whether a bird strike caused the blade to fracture or whether the remains were incidental to a separate mechanical failure. Preliminary reports record findings; they do not assign cause.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary stated that the engine had been fully serviced and overhauled within the past two years and that initial findings pointed to foreign object damage, though he told the BBC he could not confirm this definitively.
The finding of bird remains may bear on how responsibility is ultimately apportioned between Ryanair, Boeing, and any other parties. That question remains unresolved; the NTSB investigation is ongoing.
Greece handed the investigation to the NTSB under international aviation rules; the incident itself occurred in North Macedonian airspace. Boeing, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) are also assisting, the BBC reported. A Greek prosecutor has separately opened a probe into the incident, Reuters reported.
Fan blade separations are among the most serious mechanical events in commercial aviation, in part because blade fragments travel at high velocity and are difficult to contain entirely within the engine casing. A comparable incident occurred in 2018, when a fan blade fracture on Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 caused an engine explosion and window blowout that killed one passenger. Whether the FR1879 failure raises similar questions about maintenance or inspection cycles will depend on findings that the NTSB has not yet reached.
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