One person has died and at least 71 others were injured on board a Singapore Airlines plane that encountered severe turbulence on a flight from London to Singapore.
The Boeing 777-300ER plane diverted to Bangkok, according to a post on the Singapore Airlines Facebook page. It said 211 passengers and 18 crew were on board.
The company said initially in a post that 30 passengers had been hurt in the mid-air disruption and were being treated in hospitals, while other travellers were receiving outpatient care at the airport.
The one person who died was a 73-year-old British man, General Manager of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport Kittipong Kittikachorn said on Tuesday.
The flight landed in the Thai capital at 3:45 p.m. local time (4:45 a.m. ET) Tuesday.
Kittikachorn, who inspected the aircraft, told CNN he was informed of the emergency landing ten minutes before it touched down. He also said that several passengers had sustained broken arms but that the majority of injuries were cuts and bruises.
Some injured passengers were sent to the nearby Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, Kittikachorn said, adding that almost 200 travellers were waiting to take onwards flight to their destinations.
The hospital said in an update that at least 71 people had been injured, including citizens from Malaysia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Spain, the United States and Ireland. It also said six people are severely injured. Earlier, Kittikachorn had said seven people were critically injured.
The aviation tracking site FlightRadar24 says, based on its data, that the turbulence on Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 occurred over Myanmar at approximately 7:49 a.m. UTC (3:49 a.m. ET).
This lines up with a statement from the airline stating that the plane, “encountered sudden extreme turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin [a river in Myanmar] at 37 000 feet, about ten hours after departure.”
FlightRadar24 said in a blog post that, according to its data, at that time,” the flight encountered a rapid change in vertical rate, consistent with a sudden turbulence event.”
The data show the flight changing course about 14 minutes later. The airline says, “The pilot declared a medical emergency and diverted the aircraft to Bangkok.”
The FlightRadar24 data show the flight, which was cruising at 37 000 feet, suddenly dipping then rapidly climbing a few hundred feet before dipping and climbing again and then finally settling back at its cruising altitude. The entire disruption took about 90 seconds, according to the data, but resulted in dozens of injuries, including a fatality.
Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam issued a statement on his social media accounts, expressing “condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased.”
“We do not have the details of those affected, but know that the government ministries and agencies, as well as SIA, are doing their utmost to support all those affected and working with the authorities in Bangkok, where the plane had been diverted to,” Shanmugaratnam said.
Singapore’s Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat said he was “deeply saddened to learn about the incident,” in a statement posted to his social media. (CNN)
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