Story perspectives

NTSB Opens Investigation After Boeing 737 Window Blowout Greece

8/14/2026

Summary

Boeing 737 Depressurizes

A Boeing 737 NG lost pressure after an engine fragment detached, breaking a window and ejecting a passenger in Greece.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation, issued a July 10 preliminary report, and logged four suspected bird strikes on the No. 2 engine in the past year, reporting no damage.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said early signs do not indicate the incident mirrors the April 2018 Southwest Airlines engine failure.

Summary

Passengers Block Window

Passengers took a metal container from crew and blocked the shattered window as the plane returned to Thessaloniki.
A doctor on board gave immediate care to the 61-year-old passenger after he was pulled back into the cabin.
Flight attendants heard loud vibrations and saw smoke or fog moments before oxygen masks deployed.
Malta Air, a Ryanair subsidiary, said the aircraft landed normally and only one passenger needed ground medical help.

History

Historical Context

In July 1989 United Airlines Flight 232 suffered a tail-engine fan-disk rupture that broke into 18 pieces, killing 112 of 296 aboard and leading the NTSB to require improved engine-containment and hydraulic-fuse protection, prompting installation of hydraulic fuses on all DC-10s. The safety focus created by those measures resurfaced after the July 2024 Malta Air 737-NG window-breach incident.

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Boeing 737 Depressurizes

A Boeing 737 NG lost pressure after an engine fragment detached, breaking a window and ejecting a passenger in Greece.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation, issued a July 10 preliminary report, and logged four suspected bird strikes on the No. 2 engine in the past year, reporting no damage.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said early signs do not indicate the incident mirrors the April 2018 Southwest Airlines engine failure.

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