Travelers have vowed to redouble their boycott of Boeing after a Singapore Airlines flight ended in disaster when it hit turbulence and killed a passenger.
The plane hit an air pocket and fell to a staggering height of 6,000 feet in just five minutes during the flight from London to Singapore.
The sudden crash unleashed chaos on board and forced the plane to make an emergency landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport.
Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, has since been identified as the British musical theater director who died aboard the Boeing 777 plane on Tuesday.
Social media users have vowed to avoid boarding Boeing planes after a series of well-publicized safety blunders involving the aviation giant’s planes.
The sudden crash unleashed chaos on board and forced the plane to make an emergency landing in Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi.
Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, has since been identified as the British passenger who died aboard the Boeing 777 plane.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, users said they would never fly on a Boeing plane again after the incident.
One person wrote, “I’ll never fly a Boeing again,” while another commented, “Actually, I’ll never fly a Boeing again.”
Another said: ‘When I book a flight in 2024. Non-stop. Hallway seat. It’s not a Boeing plane. Then double check number 3. Triple check that it is not a Boeing.
Boeing’s stock price took a hit this morning after the incident aboard the flight, but has since recovered. Hitting a low of $183.11, before rising to $186.39.
Questions about safety have dogged the manufacturer since a door plug on a 737 Max on an Alaska Airlines flight exploded in January.
The pilots were able to land the plane safely, but the incident has plunged Boeing into its deepest crisis since the deadly crashes of two Max planes in 2018 and 2019, blamed on a poor computer system.
Current and former Boeing employees have accused the company of cutting corners on safety.
The Arlington, Virginia-based company is being investigated by the FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Department of Justice.
The flight experienced severe turbulence while flying near Myanmar airspace, in a region that is currently being hit by extreme tropical storms.
Pictured: The plane and ambulances on the tarmac at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport.
Social media users have vowed to avoid boarding Boeing planes after the incident.
A man who said he was on the flight addressed X to describe the incident on board the flight.
Andrew Davies of London wrote that he and other passengers who were not injured by the turbulence were currently waiting in a waiting area at the airport.
“Many people are hurt, including the air stewards who were stoic and did everything they could,” he wrote.
‘Bangkok emergency services responded quickly. Very little warning. The seat belt sign came on, I put my seat belt on immediately and the plane just descended.’
Davies wrote that “medically trained passengers” were working to help the injured after the plane went down.
‘Cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the poor gentleman who died. Another passenger was left lying in the aisle behind me. I’m not sure what happened to them,” he said.
‘People’s belongings were scattered, coffee and water splashed on the ceiling. Surreal. So many people hurt. 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 he wishes he could have done more to help, adding: “My heart goes out to the gentleman who lost his life and his poor wife.” Horrible experience.’
Passengers are seen on the Singapore Airlines plane after it made an emergency landing in Bangkok today. The oxygen masks fell from the ceiling, as did other components.
More than 70 people were injured in the incident, and Mr Kitchen’s wife Linda is believed to be among those in hospital. Her condition is unknown.
Tributes have poured in for Kitchen, who ran the Thornbury Musical Theater group and is said to be a grandfather, with friends describing him as “a really nice guy”.
The retired insurance worker and his wife were heading overseas for a six-week holiday to Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Australia when the disaster struck.
Marco Chan, Senior Lecturer in Aviation Operations at Buckinghamshire New University, told DailyMail.com that incidents involving extreme turbulence tend to occur when an aircraft navigates through thunderstorms.
Regarding the aircraft involved in today’s incident which is also a Boeing, Mr Chan said: “The aircraft in question is a Boeing 777-300ER, a manufacturer that has already made headlines.
“It must be emphasized that these types of incidents can occur on any flight and on any aircraft manufacturer.”
This photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the door plug from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on January 8, 2024 in Portland, Oregon.
Boeing expressed its condolences following Tuesday’s incident, saying: “We express our deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one and our thoughts are with the passengers and crew,” Boeing said.
Turbulence-related airline accidents are the most common type, according to a 2021 study by the National Transportation Safety Board.
From 2009 to 2018, the US agency found that turbulence accounted for more than a third of reported airline accidents and most resulted in one or more serious injuries but no damage to the aircraft.
Boeing CEO David Calhoun, who will step down at the end of the year, has said many times that Boeing is taking steps to improve its manufacturing quality and safety culture.
He called the Alaska plane explosion a “defining moment” from which a better Boeing will emerge. There is a lot of skepticism about comments like that.