The Norwegian plane, which was flying from Oslo to Dubrovnik on July 27, had to make an emergency landing in Vienna after one of the windows cracked during the flight. The media reports that the plane was scheduled to land at Ruđer Bošković Airport in Dubrovnik around 9:40 a.m., but one of the windows was broken.
That's why the crew decided to change the route and make an emergency landing at the International Airport in Vienna, reports the local portal Dubrovnik dnevnik.
Just a week earlier, a serious incident occurred on a Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen broken glass on the window of the aircraft, and the air pulled the man sitting by the window outside. It was a 61-year-old Serb, who was saved by the safety belt and other passengers who held and dragged him so that the air would not suck him out of the plane. He was hospitalized in a hospital in Thessaloniki.
Luka Popovic, portal editor EX-YU Aviation News told "Vreme" that he would not necessarily connect these two events.
"In the case of Norvijn, the window was shattered, while in the case of Rajaer, the protective part of the engine most likely fell off and hit the window at high speed, as a result of which it was damaged," Popović explains to "Vreme". "It is more of a coincidence that both involve the windows of the plane and that they happen in a short time, but the causes are different. In Ryanair, the damage occurred due to the impact of a part of the engine, while the cause of the burst window on the Norwich plane is still being determined."
What are airplane windows made of?
However, Popović explains that windows on passenger planes are made of multiple layers and are designed to remain safe even if one of them is damaged.
"In most cases, the crack affects only the outer layer, and such damage can also occur due to fatigue of the material over time," he adds. "It's not a common occurrence, but it does happen occasionally."
The Norvigna Boeing 737-800 is less than 12 years old, the media reports.
Who can passengers complain to?
The question is to whom citizens can complain if a malfunction of the plane causes them any injury, for incidents that occurred in the air.
Luka Popović says that first of all, the complaint should be sent to the Civil Aviation Directorate of the country from which the passengers are flying, because that institution is not only concerned with protecting the rights of passengers, but also with controlling the safety standards of airlines.
But in the case of Ryanair, the investigation will be led by the US National Transportation Safety Board, since the incident happened on a Boeing 737 operated by Malta Air, Ryanair's daughter company.
At Ryanair they try all the time to repair the damage after passenger Ljubiša Karović almost fell out of the window during the flight in early July. His wife Svetlana Grković grabbed his legs and with the help of two other passengers managed to get him back into the cabin.
Ryanair's financial director Neil Sorahan said that the company has been in contact with the family since the accident, and the company does not want to talk about possible compensation for Karovic and his wife. Sorahan said it was "too early" for such talks while the official investigation was ongoing.
Passenger care
The lawyer of the injured party, Ljubiša Karović, is said he thought he knew how the incident occurred and that there is also the responsibility of Boeing and General Electric.
"At the moment, investigative authorities are conducting an investigation. We expect to receive an answer about what happened and who is responsible in approximately 30 days," Karović's lawyer Vasilis Tsijaras told RTS, adding that a criminal investigation has already been launched in Thessaloniki.
There was also different information on the topic of caring for the injured passenger.
Ryanair said their customer care team has been in constant contact with the family since the incident. Attorney Ciaras then said that the company sent several emails and made two or three calls with his son, since he was the one who bought the flight tickets.
"There was no direct contact with Karović, even though he was in the hospital for almost seven days. They never visited him or tried to contact him. They could have called the hospital, they could have sent someone to visit him," said Ciaras.
He claims that Ryanair did not offer material, psychological or any other support to his client, and that there was no help from the cabin crew during the flight - although the company said the crew did a phenomenal job.
"None of the flight attendants came to ask him how he was feeling. He passed out, he asked for water, but the only water he got was from other passengers. As far as he told me, the only help a crew member gave him was only after landing, when an ambulance was already waiting at the airport," the lawyer says, adding that the pilot did his job well and landed the passengers safely according to procedure.
He also disputes that after the incident, Karović was moved next to his wife, who was sitting three rows behind him, in order to get away from the broken window. He also notes that none of the crew provided him with medical assistance during the flight, but that an ophthalmologist called when the passengers asked if there was a doctor among them.
He recalls that Karović lost consciousness three times during the summer and that after a week spent in the hospital, he still wears a collar around his neck.
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