A woman who clung to her husband's legs after he was nearly pulled headfirst through a cabin window on a Ryanair flight last Friday recalled that half of his body extended outside the aircraft.

Svetlana Grković, traveling with her husband Ljubisa Karović from Thessaloniki in Greece to Memmingen in Germany, explained to Greek public broadcaster ERT that he stayed outside up to his chest for two minutes.

"I reacted at once and seized his legs. I thought: 'If we die, we die together,'" Grković said to Serbian outlet Nova.

With assistance from two other passengers, Grković pulled her husband back inside after he lost consciousness three times.

"The passenger seated next to him held his hand," Grković told ERT. "Three of us worked to bring him inside as oxygen masks fell and panic spread."

"They placed a suitcase against the window but it was pulled out," she added.

Grković noted that a section of the plane's engine seemed to break away, shattering the window beside her husband and triggering cabin decompression. Other travelers reported hearing an explosion-like noise.

A technical adviser for the family suggests the incident started with a right engine issue that sent debris into the window, leading to sudden pressure loss. Investigators have yet to confirm this view.

Passengers told local media that Karović kept his seatbelt fastened, which helped others hold onto him while his head and shoulders were outside.

Svetlana Grković said her 61-year-old husband is seriously injured and in shock.

"It matters most that he survived... his hand is badly hurt with burns too. He cannot communicate and does not recall the full event," she said.

She told ERT that any talk of planes makes him shake, adding: "I am also in poor psychological condition... I feared for our lives and worried the plane might crash."

Another traveler, Sofia, told Radio Thessaloniki: "We believed the plane was descending. The decompression felt extreme and breathing grew hard. The injured man bled before losing consciousness several times, probably from oxygen loss and shock."

The aircraft, believed to be 18 years old, was run by Ryanair's Malta Air unit.

Thessaloniki airport operator Fraport Greece said the incident is under review by the Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority.

The 61-year-old remains in hospital per local reports, while the cause investigation continues.

As the US-built Boeing 737-800 was involved and the event occurred in North Macedonian airspace, specialists from Boeing, the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency are aiding the probe.