Passengers have described the carnage that unfolded when a Singapore Airlines plane plunged 6,000 feet amid terrifying turbulence, leaving one passenger dead and 30 injured.
Authorities have named the deceased as a 73-year-old British man and said he likely died of a heart attack during the “chaotic” incident. They added that he was traveling with his wife, who is now hospitalized.
Andrew Davies, an events manager from Lewisham who was on the flight, described how the unnamed man received CPR from other passengers before tragically losing his life.
The plane’s sudden fall threw passengers into the air, and those not wearing seatbelts are said to have suffered horrific injuries, including “head lacerations and bleeding ears.”
“The seat belt sign came on, I put my seat belt on immediately and the plane just fell,” Davies wrote in X about the horror flight, adding that a cabin crew member told him it was “by far the worst.” in his 30s.” to fly’.
Davies said “many people” were injured, “including air stewards who were stoic and did everything they could.”
He added that he and other passengers who were not injured were now in a holding area at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, where the flight from Heathrow to Singapore was forced to make an emergency landing.
Andrew Davies praised ‘stoic’ air stewards for their bravery
One passenger was killed and 30 others injured on a flight from London to Singapore this afternoon, forcing an emergency landing in Thailand. Pictured: The plane and ambulances are seen on the tarmac at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok today.
A passenger on board a Singapore Airlines plane from the UK has described the extreme turbulence that killed a fellow passenger in a tragic incident today. Pictured: Passengers and crew after extreme turbulence on the Singapore Airlines plane today.
Mr Davies, who was heading to Wellington, New Zealand, for work, said: “My heart goes out to the gentleman who lost his life and his poor wife. Horrible experience.
‘Passengers with medical training helped in any way they could. “CPR on the poor gentleman who passed away,” she said, adding that they had “begged for a defibrillator.”
‘Another passenger was left lying in the aisle behind me. I’m not sure what happened to them. I wish I could have helped more.’
Davies said The times that the crew were “on their feet when it happened and afterwards I don’t think I saw any of them who weren’t hurt.”
“One of the men clearly had a lot of back pain, but he and the rest continued stoically anyway.”
“The lesson is: wear your seat belt AT ALL TIMES,” he said. ‘All the injured were not wearing seat belts. The people who kept them (including me) are not (as far as I know).’
‘People’s belongings were scattered, coffee and water splashed on the ceiling. Surreal. So many people injured: head lacerations, bleeding ears. A lady was screaming in pain with back problems. I couldn’t help her, she just brought her water.’
He said that when the plane landed, “Bangkok emergency services responded quickly.” Very little warning.
Describing the dramatic events, Dzafran Azmir, who was on board the flight, said: “Suddenly the plane started to tilt and there were tremors, so I started to prepare for what was happening, and very suddenly there was a very serious fall. dramatic, so everyone sat down and The man without a seat belt was immediately thrown to the ceiling.
“Some people hit their heads on the luggage cabins above and dented them, hit the places where the lights and masks are and went through them,” the 28-year-old student said.
The Boeing 777 aircraft operated by Singapore Airlines took off from British Heathrow Airport on Monday afternoon at 10:17 p.m. local time, with 211 passengers and 18 crew on board.
However, flight SQ321 experienced severe turbulence while flying near Myanmar airspace in a region that is currently being hit by extreme tropical storms.
The plane remained at 31,000 feet for just under 10 minutes before descending rapidly and landing in Bangkok in just under half an hour. The descent occurred when the flight was flying over the Andaman Sea approaching Myanmar.
The plane, with registration 9V-SWM, was diverted to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, where it made an emergency landing at 3:45 p.m. local time, the airline announced on its Facebook page.
It was scheduled to land at Singapore Changi Airport at 6:10 p.m. local time.
A person is seen being taken off the plane on a stretcher today in Bangkok.
This flight tracker showed the plane’s route from London before diverting to Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok.
Flight tracking websites showed that flight SQ321 diverted from its planned route to Singapore and landed at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport.
In a statement on Facebook (pictured), Singapore Airlines confirmed the emergency landing.
Ambulances could be seen on the tarmac next to the plane.
Local media reported that one passenger had died and around 30 others were injured, prompting the emergency landing. It was not immediately clear where the person who died in the incident was from.
A man who said he was on the flight took to X (formerly Twitter) to describe the incident.
