BANGKOK. Singapore Airlines confirmed Tuesday that one passenger has died and several others sustained injuries when a London-Singapore flight encountered severe turbulence. The incident prompted an emergency landing in Bangkok, where medical teams rushed to assist amidst stormy conditions.
The Boeing 777-300ER, carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members, diverted its course to Bangkok after experiencing the turbulence, touching down at 3:45 p.m. local time, according to a statement posted on the airline’s official Facebook page.
Flight tracking data revealed by FlightRadar24 and analyzed by The Associated Press depicted a sudden and drastic descent of the Singapore Airlines flight. The aircraft dropped from its cruising altitude of 37,000 feet to 31,000 feet within a span of three minutes, before further descending and landing in Bangkok in under half an hour. The ordeal unfolded over the Andaman Sea as the flight approached Myanmar.
Emergency teams from Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, located approximately 20 kilometers from Suvarnabhumi Airport, promptly responded to the scene, transferring injured passengers to receive medical care. Videos circulated on the LINE messaging platform showed a convoy of ambulances converging on the airport.
In a statement, Singapore Airlines expressed its condolences to the family of the deceased and pledged to collaborate with Thai authorities to extend necessary support. “We deeply apologize for the traumatic experience that our passengers and crew members suffered on this flight,” the airline emphasized.
Kittipong Kittikachorn, Director of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, confirmed the fatality and informed Reuters that 18 individuals were hospitalized, with 12 currently undergoing treatment.
While publicly available tracking data could not fully reconstruct the incident, FlightRadar24 spokesperson stated that initial data around 07:49 GMT indicated a sudden tilt upwards followed by a return to cruising altitude within a minute.
One passenger, Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student, recounted the harrowing experience to Reuters, describing a sensation of abrupt ascent followed by a dramatic drop. “Suddenly the aircraft starts tilting up and there was shaking so I started bracing for what was happening, and very suddenly there was a very dramatic drop so everyone seated and not wearing a seatbelt was launched immediately into the ceiling,” Azmir recalled.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
