NTSB finds prior bird strikes preceded Ryanair 737 engine failure

A preliminary report from the US National Transportation Safety Board says the engine involved in a July 2026 uncontained failure aboard a Ryanair-operated Boeing 737-800 had been struck by birds on five occasions over the preceding twelve months, including the incident itself, with bird remains identified after three of those events.

According to investigators, a fan blade in the aircraft's right-hand engine broke apart shortly after the jet departed Thessaloniki, Greece, bound for Memmingen, Germany, on July 10, 2026. Debris from the engine struck the fuselage and horizontal stabilizer, and one fragment shattered a cabin window at Row 11, causing a sudden depressurization. A 61-year-old passenger seated beside the window was partially pulled outward before other travelers pulled him back inside; he sustained neck and shoulder injuries along with friction burns.

The aircraft, registered 9H-QEU and operated by Malta Air on Ryanair's behalf, was climbing through roughly 16,000 feet when crew heard a loud bang and felt sustained vibration, with some smoke or fog reported in the cabin before oxygen masks deployed.

The NTSB said maintenance checks carried out after the four earlier suspected bird strikes did not detect damage, and ultrasonic inspections of the fan blades in November 2025 and May 2026 also found no faults. Investigators later recovered three detached fan blade fragments from the failed engine.

The agency noted similarities between this event and two previous fan blade failures on Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft, including a 2018 Southwest Airlines accident, though the report does not draw conclusions about the cause of the Ryanair engine failure at this stage.