A Singapore Airlines flight from London encountered severe turbulence on Tuesday, resulting in the death of one passenger and injuries to 30 others, leading to an emergency landing in Bangkok, officials and the airline reported.
“Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased. We deeply apologize for the traumatic experience that our passengers and crew members suffered on this flight,” the airline stated, adding that it was collaborating with Thai authorities to provide all necessary assistance.
According to Kittipong Kittikachorn, Director of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, a male passenger died. Singapore Airlines reported that 18 people have been hospitalized, with 12 still receiving treatment.
Publicly available tracking data could not immediately reconstruct the incident, but a FlightRadar24 spokesperson mentioned that data around 07:49 GMT indicated the plane tilting upwards before returning to its cruising altitude within a minute.
A passenger on the flight described the incident to Reuters, noting the sensation of rising and then falling. “Suddenly, the aircraft started tilting up and shaking. I began bracing for what was happening, and very suddenly, there was a dramatic drop, causing everyone not wearing a seatbelt to be thrown into the ceiling,” said Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student.
“Some people hit their heads on the overhead baggage compartments, denting them, and broke through areas with lights and masks,” he added.
Regarding the data showing a drop in altitude, the FlightRadar24 spokesperson said, “Our initial thinking is that the turbulence event occurred prior to the standard descent from 37,000 to 31,000 feet. That appears to be a routine flight level change in preparation for landing.”
The Boeing 777-300ER plane, carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members, was en route to Singapore when it made the emergency landing.
Singapore news outlet CNA shared blurry images provided by readers, purportedly from the flight. These showed anxious passengers clinging to seats, oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling, personal items scattered across the aisle, and debris on the floor of the cabin crew area.
Suvarnabhumi airport reported that the plane requested an emergency landing at 3:35 pm local time and landed at 3:51. Uninjured passengers disembarked, and another aircraft was arranged to fly them onwards. The airline noted that the plane landed at 3:45.
Turbulence-related airline accidents are the most common type, according to a 2021 study by the National Transportation Safety Board. The study found that from 2009 through 2018, turbulence accounted for more than a third of reported airline accidents, most resulting in serious injuries but no aircraft damage.
Singapore Airlines, widely recognized as one of the world’s leading airlines, has not experienced major incidents in recent years. Its last accident resulting in casualties was a flight from Singapore to Los Angeles via Taipei, which crashed on October 31, 2000, into construction equipment at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after attempting to take off from the wrong runway. The crash resulted in the deaths of 83 of the 179 people on board. According to the Aviation Safety Network, Singapore Airlines has had seven accidents in total.