NTSB Reveals Metal Fatigue in Ryanair Engine Blade That Caused Window to Shatter and Passenger to Be Partially Pulled Out

United States air safety investigators have uncovered evidence of metal fatigue within an engine fan blade that fractured on a Ryanair flight last month, causing debris to pierce the cabin and shatter a window where a passenger was partially pulled outward.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported in a preliminary assessment that roughly 37 percent of the fracture surface on the broken blade displayed characteristics of fatigue. Investigators pinpointed the damage near the base of the blade, uncovering indicators of high-amplitude fatigue driven by continuous stress. The agency has not yet identified the ultimate cause of the failure.

Cabin depressurised

The July 10 event took place on a Boeing 737-800 run by Malta Air, a subsidiary of Ryanair, travelling from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany. As reported by the NTSB, the plane was ascending past 16,000 feet (4,877 metres) when the flight deck was alerted to high vibrations in the right engine. The vibration escalated quickly before the crew heard a loud bang, leading to a loss of cabin pressure.

Pieces from the engine hit the fuselage and broke through the cabin, destroying the window at row 11. A flight attendant answering requests for assistance discovered a 61-year-old passenger in seat 11F partly stuck in the open window frame. Fellow passengers successfully pulled the man back inside the aircraft. The passenger sustained neck and shoulder injuries alongside friction burns, and was attended to by a physician on board as the flight headed back to Thessaloniki. Passengers also utilized a metal box from the galley in an attempt to cover the opening.

Bird remains recovered

Investigators discovered feathers and bird remains throughout various sections of the engine, though the NTSB has not yet determined whether a bird strike triggered the blade fracture. Service records indicate the engine had encountered four potential bird strikes over the preceding year, with biological material recovered following two of those occurrences. The engine fan blades had received ultrasonic examinations in November 2025 and May 2026, which revealed no signs of damage. The NTSB probe is ongoing.