5 Filipinos included in Singapore flight that left 1 dead, 70 injured due to severe turbulence
Five Filipinos were in the Singapore Airlines flight where a British man died and over 70 others were injured amid severe turbulence on May 21, Tuesday.
The airline said the Boeing 777-300ER carried 211 passengers and 18 crew on board. It confirmed the nationality of the affected passengers: five from the Philippines, 56 from Australia, two from Canada, one from Germany, three from India, two from Indonesia, one from Iceland, four from Ireland, one from Israel, 16 from Malaysia, two from Myanmar, 23 from New Zealand, 41 from Singapore, one from South Korea, two from Spain, 47 from the United Kingdom, and four from the United States.
Singapore Airlines said flight SQ321 had taken off from London's Heathrow Airport and "encountered sudden extreme turbulence" over Myanmar's Irrawaddy Basin.
According to aviation tracking service Flightradar24’s initial analysis, the London to Singapore flight experienced over a minute of extreme turbulence at around 11,300 meters over Myanmar, during which it violently rose and plunged several times.
The aircraft, a Boeing 777-300ER, then had a sharp, controlled descent and diverted to Bangkok in Thailand for an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The plane touched down at 3:45 p.m., and emergency vehicles raced onto the tarmac with lights flashing and sirens blaring.
"At 3:35 p.m., the airport received a distress call from the Singapore Airlines flight saying there were passengers on board injured by turbulence, and requesting an emergency landing," Suvarnabhumi Airport said in a statement. "The plane landed at the airport and the medical team was sent to treat all the injured."
Kittipong Kittikachorn, director of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, said most of the injured passengers on the flight suffered blows to the head.
Kittikachorn also confirmed the death of the British man, who was 73, due to a heart condition.
The man was identified as Geoff Kitchen, according to CNN Bangkok.
The Thornbury Musical Theatre Group, where Kitchen worked for over 35 years, in a Facebook post described him as “always a gentleman with the utmost honesty and integrity” and who “always did what was right for the group.”
‘A crazy flight’
Andrew Davies, another British passenger, told BBC Radio 5 that the plane "suddenly dropped" and there was "very little warning.”
"During the few seconds of the plane dropping, there was an awful screaming and what sounded like a thud," Davies said, adding that he helped a woman "screaming in agony" with a "gash on her head.”
He said he was covered in coffee and described seeing people with head lacerations and bleeding ears.
Allison Barker told BBC her son Josh texted her that he was on "a crazy flight" that was making an emergency landing.
"It was terrifying," Barker said. "I didn't know what was going on. We didn't know whether he'd survived, it was so nerve-wracking. It was the longest two hours of my life."
Some 131 passengers and 12 crew members arrived in Singapore on a relief flight at 5:05 a.m. on May 22, Wednesday.
Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student, told Reuters after arriving in Singapore that he saw people from across the aisle “going completely horizontal, hitting the ceiling and landing back down in like really awkward positions.”
“People, like, getting massive gashes in the head, concussions," Azmir said.
Another 79 passengers and six crew members remained in Bangkok, including those receiving medical treatment.
According to Bangkok’s Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, a total of 71 people had been sent for treatment, with six of them severely injured.
‘Deepest condolences’
Goh Choon Phong, Singapore Airlines chief executive officer, in a video message posted on Facebook, said they are “deeply saddened by this incident.”
“I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased,” Phong said. “We are very sorry for the traumatic experience that everyone on board SQ321 went through.”
The airline official said their priority is to render all possible assistance to the affected passengers and crew members.
Phong said Singapore Airlines is fully cooperating with the relevant authorities on the investigations.
Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Facebook also offered his condolences, saying they are “working closely with Thai authorities and doing everything we can to support the passengers and crew.”
Singapore's transport ministry said it would send investigators to Bangkok, while the city-state's President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said "we must hope and pray" for the injured to recover.
Boeing, for its part, it’s "ready to support" Singapore Airlines.
"We extend our deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one, and our thoughts are with the passengers and crew," Boeing said on X. (with reports from AFP)