Singapore Airlines passengers recall horror as turbulence hit flight
Passengers aboard a Singapore Airlines flight that experienced severe turbulence—resulting in the death of a man—recounted the terrifying incident. They described how the plane suddenly dropped with very little warning. Dzafran Azmir, a Malaysian student on flight SQ321, reported that passengers not wearing seatbelts were thrown into the ceiling when the Boeing 777-300R encountered turbulence at 37,000 feet. The incident led to the death of a 73-year-old British man and injured over 70 people, forcing an emergency landing in Bangkok.
'People with seatbelts launched into ceiling'
"I saw people from across the aisle going completely horizontal, hitting the ceiling, and landing back down...People, like, getting massive gashes in the head, concussions," Azmir told Reuters. "Suddenly there was a very dramatic drop so everyone seated and not wearing a seatbelt was launched immediately into the ceiling, some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it, they hit the places where lights and masks are, and broke straight through it," he added.
'No warning before plane plunged'
Andrew Davies, a British passenger, described to the BBC seeing people with head lacerations and bleeding ears. "During the few seconds of the plane dropping, there was an awful screaming and what sounded like a thud," he said. "I was covered in coffee. It was incredibly severe turbulence," he said. Another passenger, Jerry, told BBC that there was no warning before the "plane plunged". "I hit my head on the ceiling," the 68-year-old said.
Emergency landing in Bangkok
Initial data analysis by aviation tracking service Flightradar24 indicated that the flight encountered over a minute of extreme turbulence at approximately 37,000 feet above Myanmar, during which it violently ascended and descended several times. The aircraft later executed a sharp, controlled descent and diverted to Bangkok. Reports on the number of injured varied, with the airline stating that 18 passengers were hospitalized and 12 were receiving treatment in hospitals, while a hospital reported treating 71 passengers.
Immediate response to incident
The incident occurred at 3:45pm local time. Singapore Airlines said that there were 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board the Boeing 777-300ER. Medical personnel were dispatched to assess injuries on board, as reported by Thai immigration police. Some uninjured passengers were allowed to disembark from the aircraft. Emergency crews from Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital were present upon landing to assist injured passengers, reports said.
