A 73-year-old British man died and dozens of others were injured when a plane bound for Singapore from London encountered “sudden extreme turbulence” about 10 hours into the flight, officials said on Tuesday.
The aircraft, a Boeing 777-300ER operated by Singapore Airlines, was diverted to Bangkok and landed at 3:45 pm local time on Tuesday, the airline said in a statement.
A Bangkok hospital said a total of 71 people were injured, including passengers and crew. Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital said 71 passengers on the plane were being treated within its medical network, six of whom were seriously injured. Four of the injured were from the UK, three from Malaysia, two from New Zealand, and one each from Ireland, Spain and the United States. The nationalities of the other victims were unclear.
The remaining passengers and crew were screened and treated at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, the airline said. Singapore’s Transport Ministry said it was investigating the incident and would send investigators to Bangkok, and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it would send a representative and four technical advisers to assist. this prime minister of thailand said his government would “provide all necessary assistance to the injured.”
Kittipong Kittikachorn, the director of Bangkok Airport, said the man died on the plane but did not reveal his name or cause of death. Kitipong said the man’s wife was injured and taken to hospital.
The average flight time on this route is just under 13 hours. Kitipong told a news conference that he boarded the plane after it landed and described the scene as “a mess.”
Flight SQ321 took off from Heathrow Airport at 10:38 pm local time on Monday, carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members. The airline said it encountered turbulence at an altitude of 37,000 feet in the Ayeyarwady Basin over Myanmar. About 10 hours later, it rose from 37,000 feet to an altitude of about 31,000 feet in just a few minutes, according to Flight Radar 24, a website that compiles public information on flights.
The pilot declared a medical emergency and diverted the flight to Bangkok.
Kittipong said about 100 uninjured passengers would fly to Singapore on Tuesday. He described them as being in a state of shock.
It’s unclear what caused the incident. As the plane flew over Myanmar, satellite data showed a powerful storm began to form and surge to higher altitudes, suggesting the region’s atmosphere was becoming unstable. The plane also flew toward other storms forming off the coast of Myanmar.
Deaths from turbulence are rare.
The last time a passenger died from a turbulence-related injury on a commercial flight operated by a U.S. airline was in 1997, when a United Airlines flight from Tokyo to The Honolulu flight experienced severe turbulence over the Pacific Ocean. The investigation revealed that the passenger, who was not wearing a seat belt, flew from his seat and may have hit his head on the luggage compartment.
Recent research suggests that turbulence is increasing and climate change is a cause, specifically increased carbon dioxide emissions that affect airflow.
José Alvarado, a pilot for Iceland’s Play Airlines, said that in his experience, clear-air turbulence, which occurs most often at high altitudes, can occur without any warning. Therefore, he told passengers: “Even if there is no turbulence, fasten your seat belts.”
More than two decades ago, while working as a flight attendant, he experienced turbulence on a flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires and was thrown when the plane suddenly dropped to about 4,000 feet. His back and shoulder blades hit the cabin ceiling and he was thrown back.
“I was just bouncing up and down,” he said, adding that some passengers were also injured. He said he hasn’t experienced anything like it since.
Singapore’s Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said in a statement that he was “deeply saddened to learn of this incident”.
Singapore Airlines expressed its condolences to the families of those on board, adding: “We are deeply sorry for the traumatic experience our passengers and crew endured on this flight.”
Report contributors: Judson Jones, Jenny Gross, Chung Liti and Mark Walker.
