At least one passenger is dead and reportedly dozens more are injured after a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore encountered “severe turbulence” and dropped thousands of feet in the air.
A passenger on-board the flight said he saw people being launched into the ceiling of the Boeing 777, leaving dents in the overhead baggage holds after the plane suddenly dropped in altitude.
Singapore Airlines confirmed that there were “injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing 777-300ER,” and offered its “deepest condolences to the family of the deceased,” in a statement posted to Facebook.
The flight was diverted to Bangkok and landed at around 3:45 p.m. local time on Tuesday. The airline said it is working with local authorities in Thailand to provide medical assistance to those on board. There were 211 passengers and 18 crew members on the flight.
According to Thai media reports, 30 people were injured.
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Tracking data captured by FlightRadar24 and analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Singapore Airlines flight cruising at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,300 metres). Just after 8 a.m. GMT, the Boeing 777 suddenly and sharply pitched down to 31,000 feet (9,400 metres) over the span of some three minutes, the data shows.
A 28-year-old student who was on board the flight told Reuters that the plane experienced a “dramatic drop” and passengers who weren’t wearing seatbelts were flung into the ceiling.
“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 seatbelt was launched immediately into the ceiling,” Dzafran Azmir said.
“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.”
Flight tracking data showed that after the sudden drop in altitude, the aircraft stayed at 31,000 feet (9,400 metres) for just under 10 minutes before rapidly descending and landing in Bangkok in just under half an hour. The descent happened as the flight was over the Andaman Sea approaching Myanmar.
Boeing has not made a public statement on the incident.
— With files from The Associated Press
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
