Originally Posted by
Bleve
I'm curious about that as well. I suspect that they were only able to pull the lady in after the cabin and outside air pressures were approximately equal. After that the cabin would have been fully depressurised and any air loss from the cabin would have been due to a venturi effect. A butt in the window might slow/stop that. But was it enough to create an effective seal? Did the cabin start to repressurise? Was the gentleman stuck there until the cabin was depressurised after landing? Did he suffer any injuries - eg a Petechial Rash or worse?
Assuming the story about the passenger blocking the window is accurate, it might have been done to keep anyone else from falling out, rather than actually trying to block the air flow. For that matter, it could simple have been done to reassure the other passengers, who were probably freaking about "Gaping hole in the plane! Ack!"