A passenger was nearly pulled out of a Ryanair aircraft operated by Malta Air after a window pane shattered during a flight from Greece to Germany.

The 61-year-old Serbian passenger reportedly ended up with his head outside the Boeing 737 following an engine failure.

His wife prevented him from being pulled completely out of the aircraft by holding onto his legs.

The man was later taken to hospital suffering from shock and burns caused by the cold air outside the plane.

The incident occurred on Ryanair flight FR1879, which was scheduled to travel from Thessaloniki in Greece to Memmingen in Germany.

The flight was operated by Malta Air, a subsidiary of Ryanair.

In a statement, Ryanair said: "A Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning (10 July) returned to Thessaloniki shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged inflight. The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki. In order to minimise any delay, a replacement aircraft was arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen which departed Thessaloniki at 9:53 local this morning."