More than 140 passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight – Boeing BA.N 777-300ER, which suffered severe turbulence on Tuesday, arrived in Singapore on an emergency flight on Wednesday morning.
A London-Singapore flight made an emergency landing in Bangkok after turbulence left many injured and a 73-year-old British passenger died of a suspected heart attack.
According to the aircraft tracking service FlightRadar 24, the flight experienced a “rapid vertical speed change consistent with a sudden turbulence event” at around 0749 GMT.
The area was hit by thunderstorms, some of which were severe,” it said.
Photos taken from inside the plane show holes in the upper cabin panels, oxygen masks and hanging panels from the ceiling, and luggage around.
Singapore Airline Passengers Say Terrible
The passenger said some people’s heads hit the lights above the seats and pierced the panels.
After arriving in Singapore, a 28-year-old student on the Boeing BA.N 777-300ER told Reuters news agency that he saw ‘people on the other side of the aisle moving completely horizontally, hitting the ceiling and coming back in an awkward position.’
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“Seats and safety belts were immediately left on the roof, some hit the luggage boxes above their heads, and damaged, lights and masks and broke through,” said the student.
“The crew and the people in the toilets were the most injured because we found people on the ground who could not get up. There were many back and head injuries,” the New York Post quoted the student as saying.
A British man with a neck injury said he and his family were “lucky” none of them died.
“There was turbulence… the plane didn’t shake at all and then I hit the ceiling. All of a sudden I was so high up. My son fell to the floor two rows behind me. I heard there was a guy who hit the ceiling in the toilet and he was also quite seriously injured,” said the woman from the hospital in Thailand.
Another passenger, Andrew Davies, told the New York Times that the medical school was desperately trying to provide help – including to an elderly British man who died on the plane.
“People’s things were scattered, coffee and water splashed on the ceiling. Surreal. So many were injured. Scalps, bleeding ears. Woman screaming in pain, bad back. I’m helping people,” Aldonis Davies.
He further described the scenes as “terrible screams and what sounded like a bang” in the first few seconds of the incident.
Woman Received Son’s Text Onboarding The Flight
Allison Barker, whose son Josh was on the plane, recalled receiving a terrifying text message from him during the flight, which she described as “terrifying“.
“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,” her son’s message read.
‘It was terrifying,’ she told
Singapore Airline Acknowledges Turbulence
A few hours after the flight made an emergency landing in Bangkok, the airline’s CEO Goh Choon Phong said in a video message: “On behalf of Singapore Airlines, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased.
The airline said in a statement: “Singapore Airlines extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved family. We deeply regret the traumatic experience the passengers and crew went through on this flight.”
Unexpected turbulence occurred over Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Basin about 10 hours before the flight, the airline said.
The transport minister of Singapore Chee Hong Tat said that the government helps travelers and their families.
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