A 73-year-old man from Britain died and dozens of individuals have been injured after a aircraft encountered “sudden excessive turbulence” about 10 hours right into a flight from London to Singapore, officers stated on Tuesday.
The aircraft, a Boeing 777-300ER operated by Singapore Airways, was diverted to Bangkok, the airline stated in an announcement, and landed at 3:45 p.m. native time on Tuesday.
In all, 71 individuals, together with passengers and crew members, have been injured, a hospital in Bangkok stated. The hospital, Samitivej Srinakarin, stated that of the 71 individuals from the flight who have been being handled in its medical community, six have been injured severely. It listed 4 of the injured as being from Britain, with three from Malaysia, two from New Zealand and one every from Eire, Spain and the US. Different victims’ nationalities weren’t recognized.
The remaining passengers and crew have been examined and handled at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, the airline stated. On Tuesday, Singapore’s Ministry of Transport stated it was inspecting the episode and would ship investigators to Bangkok, and the Thai prime minister stated his authorities would “help with all the pieces mandatory for the injured.”
The person died aboard the flight, stated Kittipong Kittikachorn, the director of Bangkok’s airport, with out figuring out him by identify or giving a reason for loss of life. The person’s spouse was injured and brought to a hospital, Mr. Kittipong stated.
The common flight time of that route is just below 13 hours. Mr. Kittipong stated at a information convention that he went onto the airplane after it landed and described the scene as “a large number.”
The flight, SQ321, took off from Heathrow at 10:38 p.m. native time on Monday with 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board. The airline stated it encountered turbulence over the over the Irrawaddy Basin over Myanmar, at 37,000 ft. Information on Flight Radar 24, a web site that compiles public details about flights, seems to indicate that about 10 hours later, it went from 37,000 ft to an altitude of roughly 31,000 ft in just a few minutes.
The pilot declared a medical emergency and diverted the flight to Bangkok.
About 100 passengers who weren’t injured have been to be flown to Singapore on Tuesday, Mr. Kittipong stated. He described them as being in a state of shock.
It’s unclear what precipitated the episode. Because the aircraft traveled throughout Myanmar, satellite tv for pc information confirmed a powerful storm starting to type and bubble into the upper elevations, which means that the environment within the area was changing into unstable. The aircraft was additionally transferring towards different storms that have been creating alongside the coast of Myanmar.
Deaths attributable to turbulence are uncommon. Between 2009 and 2021, 146 passengers and crew members have been severely injured in turbulence, in accordance with information from the Federal Aviation Administration. In December 2022, 11 individuals have been severely damage in turbulence on a flight from Phoenix to Honolulu.
José Alvarado, a pilot with the Icelandic airline Play, stated that in his expertise, clear-air turbulence, which occurs most often at excessive altitudes, can happen with out warning. For that motive, he tells passengers, “Even when there’s no turbulence, preserve your seatbelts on.”
As soon as, greater than twenty years in the past, when he was working as a flight attendant, he skilled turbulence on a flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires that was so extreme that he was thrown upward when the aircraft all of the sudden dropped about 4,000 ft. His again and shoulder blades hit the ceiling of the cabin earlier than he was thrown again down.
“I used to be simply bouncing up and down,” he stated, including that some passengers additionally have been injured. He stated he had not skilled something like that since.
Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s minister for transport, stated in an announcement that he was “deeply saddened to be taught concerning the incident.”
Singapore Airways supplied its condolences to the household of the one who died on the flight, including that “we deeply apologize for the traumatic expertise that our passengers and crew members suffered on this flight.”
Judson Jones and Jenny Gross contributed reporting.