A preliminary report from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reveals that bird remains and feathers were found inside the damaged engine of a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 following a July 2026 uncontained engine failure over Greece. The incident resulted in a shattered passenger window and rapid cabin decompression.
According to the NTSB, the same engine had been involved in four other suspected bird strikes during the preceding 12 months, with bird remains recovered after two of those prior incidents. Maintenance inspections conducted after the four earlier events identified no damage, and ultrasonic inspections of the engine's fan blades in November 2025 and May 2026 also reported no defects.
Investigators reported that the aircraft, registered 9H-QEU and operated by Malta Air on behalf of Ryanair, had departed Thessaloniki International Airport (SKG) bound for Memmingen, Germany. While climbing through approximately 16,000 feet on July 10, 2026, a fan blade in the right engine fractured, launching high-energy engine debris into the fuselage and shattering a passenger window in Row 11.
The sudden window failure triggered a rapid loss of cabin pressure, partially pulling a 61-year-old passenger seated next to the broken window into the opening before fellow passengers pulled him back inside. The passenger sustained neck and shoulder injuries along with friction burns. The aircraft returned safely to Thessaloniki approximately one hour after departure, and investigators recovered three loose fan blade fragments from the engine.
Flight attendants aboard the flight reported experiencing a loud, continuous vibration accompanied by a small amount of smoke or fog in the cabin before overhead oxygen masks deployed. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had previously issued airworthiness directives in 2025 requiring engine cowling modifications to mitigate damage from fan blade failures, with compliance mandated by July 2028. The NTSB noted that the Ryanair aircraft had not yet received these major modifications, while emphasizing it has not concluded that their absence contributed to the accident.
