Several persons suffer serious injuries aboard a Singapore Airlines aircraft due to severe turbulence. One man passed away
BANGKOK (AP) — According to the
airline on Tuesday, a Singapore Airlines flight experienced extreme turbulence
over the Indian Ocean and dropped 6,000 feet, or roughly 1,800 meters, in
approximately three minutes. Authorities reported that several passengers
suffered serious injuries, and one British man died.
Although it hasn't been verified, an airport officer speculated that the
73-year-old man might have suffered a heart attack. His identity wasn't made
public right away.
With 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board, the Boeing 777 flight from
London's Heathrow airport to Singapore was forced to make an emergency landing
in Bangkok's inclement weather.
The seatbelt sign was illuminated,
but crew members didn't have time to buckle up, according to British passenger
Andrew Davies, who spoke with Sky News.
Davies claimed that "every single member of the cabin crew I saw was
injured in some way, maybe with a gash on their head." "One was
clearly in pain and had a bad back."
One of the students on the flight, Dzafran Azmir, 28, said to ABC News,
"Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented
it." They struck the areas with masks and lights and broke right through.
During a press conference,
Suvarnabhumi Airport General Manager Kittipong Kittikachorn stated that the
unexpected drop happened while travelers were receiving meal service.
According to him, 23 passengers and nine crew members received moderate
injuries, while seven passengers sustained serious injuries. Fourteen patients
received care at the airport, while sixteen with less serious injuries were
admitted to the hospital. He claimed that although it would need to be
confirmed by medical authorities, the British guy looked to have suffered a
heart attack.
Six of the 71 patients who received treatment at Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital
had serious injuries, according to a later statement from the hospital. There
was no explanation provided for the disparity in the data.
Singapore Airlines Flight SQ321,
according to tracking information obtained by FlightRadar24 and examined by The
Associated Press, is currently flying at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,300
meters).
The data indicates that at one point, the Boeing 777-300ER had a quick and
steep descent to 31,000 feet (9,400 meters) during a period of around three
minutes. The plane then deviated and touched down in Bangkok in less than 30
minutes after remaining at 31,000 feet (9,400 meters) for less than ten
minutes.
The aircraft was over the Andaman Sea, close to Myanmar, when it made the
abrupt dive. At that moment, the airplane transmitted an international
emergency signal, or "squawk code," of 7700.
Just after five in the morning local
time on Tuesday, Singapore Airlines verified that 143 passengers had landed in
the city state. The airlines informed AP that another 79 passengers and six
crew members were still in Bangkok, where they will be picked up by a second
rescue flight.
The incident's meteorological conditions at the time were not disclosed.
Although most people associate turbulence with strong storms, "clear
air" turbulence is the most deadly kind. Wind shear can happen in the
clear air around thunderstorms or even in the wispy cirrus clouds because of
the strong currents of fast-moving air caused by temperature and pressure
variations.
In December, turbulence caused
injuries to 41 passengers on two different flights in the United States, who
were treated for their injuries over the course of two days. This incident
brought attention to the problem of turbulence.
In a 2021 report, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said that from
2009 to 2018, turbulence was the cause of 37.6% of all accidents on bigger
commercial aircraft. Following the December occurrences, the Federal Aviation
Administration, another U.S. government body, reported that 146 people had
suffered serious injuries due to turbulence between 2009 and 2021.
Boeing said it was in communication
with Singapore Airlines and "stand ready to support them" in addition
to sending its sympathies to the man's family. The wide-body Boeing 777 is a
workhorse of the aviation industry, primarily utilized by airlines worldwide
for long-haul trips. The twin-engine, two-aisle 777-300ER model of the aircraft
is bigger and has a higher passenger capacity than previous iterations.
22 of the aircraft are flown by Singapore Airlines, the flag carrier of the
city-state, which has a fleet of over 140 aircraft. The parent business of the
airline, which also runs the low-cost airline Scoot, is mostly controlled by
the Temasek government investment conglomerate in Singapore.
Suriya Jungrungruangkit, Thailand's
minister of transportation, announced that Singapore was sending out a second
aircraft to carry those who were able to fly. It arrived Tuesday evening in
Bangkok.
In a Facebook post, Singapore's Foreign Ministry, the Civil Aviation Authority,
Changi Airport officials, and airline employees, along with the Minister of
Transportation, Chee Hong Tat, stated that they "are providing support to
the affected passengers and their families."
The Transport Safety Investigation Bureau of the ministry announced that it
will send investigators to Bangkok and that it was in contact with its Thai
counterpart.
56 Australians, 2 Canadians, 1
German, 3 Indians, 2 Indonesians, 1 Icelander, 4 Irish, 1 Israeli, 16
Malaysians, 2 from Myanmar, 23 New Zealanders, 5 Filipinos, 41 from Singapore,
1 South Korean, 2 Spaniards, 47 from the United Kingdom, and 4 from the United
States were among the passengers, according to Singapore Airlines.