BANGKOK (AP) – A Singapore Airlines jet encountered severe turbulence over the Indian Ocean and fell 6,000 feet (1,800 meters) in about three minutes, the airline said Tuesday. A British man was killed and authorities said dozens of passengers were injured, some seriously.
Airport officials said the 73-year-old man may have suffered a heart attack, but there is no confirmation. His name was not immediately released.
A Boeing 777 flight from London Heathrow Airport to Singapore carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members was diverted and landed in Bangkok in stormy weather.
British passenger Andrew Davies told Sky News that the seatbelt sign was on, but the crew did not have time to get him into his seat.
“Every flight attendant I saw was injured in some way, probably with cuts to their heads,” Davis said. “One person had a bad back and was clearly in pain.”
Zahran Azmir, a 28-year-old student who was on the plane, told ABC News: “Some people hit their heads in the overhead hold and got dented. They hit where the lights and masks were and they went straight up. It broke through.”
Suvarnabhumi Airport General Manager Kittipong Kittikachorn said in a press conference that the plunge occurred as passengers were being served meals.
He said seven passengers suffered serious injuries and 23 passengers and nine crew members sustained moderate injuries. Sixteen people with minor injuries were treated at the hospital and 14 at the airport. He said the British man appeared to have suffered a heart attack, but medical authorities needed to confirm that.
Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital later said 71 people, including six seriously injured, were being treated there, without explaining the discrepancy in the numbers.
Tracking data captured by FlightRadar24 and analyzed by The Associated Press shows Singapore Airlines Flight SQ321 cruising at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,300 meters).
At one point, the Boeing 777-300ER plane suddenly plummeted to an altitude of 31,000 feet (9,400 meters) in about three minutes, data showed. The aircraft then stayed at an altitude of 31,000 feet (9,400 meters) for less than 10 minutes, before turning around and landing in Bangkok within 30 minutes.
The plunge occurred over the Andaman Sea near Myanmar. At the time, the plane was transmitting the “Squawk Code” 7700, an international emergency signal.
Singapore Airlines confirmed on Tuesday that 143 passengers arrived in Singapore just after 5am local time. An additional 79 people and six crew members are still in Bangkok and a second relief flight will pick them up, the airline told The Associated Press.
Details of the weather at the time of the incident were not reported.
Most people associate turbulence with severe storms, but the most dangerous type is so-called clear-air turbulence. Wind shear can occur in wispy cirrus clouds or even in clear air near a thunderstorm. This is because differences in temperature and pressure create strong, high-velocity air currents.
The problem of turbulence was highlighted in December when two flights in the United States encountered turbulence, injuring or treating a total of 41 people on two consecutive days.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board’s 2021 report, turbulence accounted for 37.6% of accidents at major commercial airlines between 2009 and 2018. Another US government agency, the Federal Aviation Administration, announced after the December crash that there were 146 serious injuries caused by turbulence between 2009 and 2021.
Boeing offered its condolences to the family of the man who died and said it had been in contact with Singapore Airlines and was “ready to assist.” The wide-body Boeing 777 is the aviation workhorse, used primarily by airlines around the world for long-haul flights. The 777-300ER, a twin-engine, twin-aisle plane, is larger than previous models and can carry more passengers.
Singapore Airlines, Singapore’s national carrier, operates 22 of its more than 140 aircraft. The airline’s parent company is majority-owned by Singaporean government investment conglomerate Temasek, which also operates low-cost carrier Scoot.
Thailand’s Transport Minister Suriya Genrunruangkit said Singapore was sending another plane to transport those who were able to travel. The plane arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday night.
Singapore’s Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said in a Facebook post that his ministry, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the country’s Civil Aviation Authority, Changi Airport officials and airline staff are “providing support to affected passengers and their families.” We are providing it.”
The ministry’s Transport Safety Investigation Department said it was in contact with Thailand’s Transport Safety Investigation Department and planned to send investigators to Bangkok.
According to Singapore Airlines, the nationalities of the passengers included 56 Australians, 2 Canadians, 1 German, 3 Indians, 2 Indonesians, 1 Icelander, 4 Irish, and 1 Israeli. There were 16 Malaysians, two from Myanmar, 23 from New Zealand, five from the Philippines, and 41 from Singapore. , 1 Korean, 2 Spanish, 47 British, and 4 American.
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Associated Press writers Napat Khonsawad in Bangkok, Irene Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and John Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
