In a rare incident, a passenger has been killed and 30 others suffered injuries due to severe turbulence on a flight from London to Singapore. The death has been confirmed by Singapore Airlines.
In a statement, Singapore Airlines said flight number SQ321, which took off from Heathrow Airport in London on Monday and was headed to Singapore, “encountered severe turbulence” en route. The aircraft was diverted to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, where it landed at 3.45 pm (local time) on Tuesday.
The plane – a Boeing 777-300 ER – had 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board.
The flight fell into an air pocket while the cabin crew was serving breakfast before it encountered turbulence, prompting the pilots to request an emergency landing, Suvarnabhumi Airport's General Manager Kittipong Kittikachorn said, according to news agency Reuters.
A 73-year-old British man died during the incident, likely due to a heart attack, he said. Seven people were critically injured with head injuries.
Offering its condolences to the family of the person who died, the airline said, "We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing… Our priority is to provide all possible assistance to all passengers and crew on board the aircraft. We are working with the local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary medical assistance, and sending a team to Bangkok to provide any additional assistance needed."
Experts said such injuries usually happen when passengers are not wearing a seatbelt and the pilot has not been able to give an advanced warning because information from the weather radar does not indicate any turbulence. In such cases, passengers can be thrown around in the cockpit, which may lead to injuries.
In May last year, turbulence had led to several passengers being injured on a Delhi-Sydney Air India flight.