- Author, Joel Guinto
- Role, BBC news
- Reporting from Singapore
-
A 73-year-old British man has died and more than 30 other people were injured on a Singapore Airlines flight from London that was hit by severe turbulence.
The Singapore-bound Boeing 777-300ER was diverted to Bangkok and made an emergency landing at 3:45 PM local time (08:45 GMT).
Passengers said the plane suddenly fell and people and objects were thrown throughout the cabin.
The flight had 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board, Singapore Airlines said. It expressed its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased, who have not yet been named.
Authorities in Bangkok say the man likely died of a heart attack. His wife has been hospitalized but her condition is unknown.
“I was having coffee,” Andrew from London told BBC Radio 5 Live. “During the few seconds the plane was descending, there was a terrible scream and what sounded like a thud.”
He said once the turbulence subsided, he was able to help a woman who was “screaming in pain” and had a “cut on her head.”
Passengers are being held in a special section of the airport in Bangkok, Andrew said. “I’m getting on another flight, these are very rare events,” he said.
Another passenger told Reuters that the plane suddenly “started to tilt upwards and it was shaking.”
“So I started bracing myself for what was happening, and very suddenly there was a very dramatic drop, so that everyone who was sitting and not wearing a seat belt was immediately launched into the ceiling,” said 28-year-old student Dzafran Azmir.
“Some people hit their heads on the overhead baggage cabins and made a dent in them. They hit the places where lamps and masks hang and broke right through them.”
Allison Barker described receiving a message from her son Josh that said, “I don’t want to scare you, but I’m on a crazy flight. The plane is making an emergency landing… I love you all.”
He was on his way to Bali. After that message, it was two hours before Allison heard from him again.
“One minute he was just sitting there with his seat belt on, the next minute he must have blacked out because he was on the ground with other people,” she told the BBC.
Josh, she said, suffered minor injuries, but she is concerned that approaching death could have a lasting impact on him.
The airline said 31 people who were on board the plane were taken to hospital.
“The remaining passengers and crew are being examined and treated where necessary at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok.”
The statement added that the airline was working with Thai authorities to provide medical assistance to passengers, and was sending a team to Bangkok to provide any additional assistance.
Thai authorities have sent ambulances and emergency teams to Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Singapore Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said the government would provide assistance to the passengers and their families.
“I am deeply saddened to hear about the incident on board Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 from London Heathrow to Singapore,” he wrote in a statement on Facebook.
It is still not clear how events developed. Turbulence is usually caused by airplanes flying through clouds, but there is also clear-air turbulence that is not visible on a jet’s weather radar.
“Injuries from severe turbulence are relatively rare in the context of millions of flights operated,” aviation expert John Strickland told the BBC.
“However, severe turbulence can be dramatic and lead to serious injury or, unfortunately in this case, death.”
Flight crews are also being trained in how to respond to turbulence, he said.
“It is not without reason that airlines recommend keeping seat belts loosely fastened during a flight, whether long or short,” he added.
Research has shown that climate change will make severe turbulence more likely in the future.
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