A 73-year-old Briton died of cardiac arrest and more than 70 people were injured on Tuesday.May 21, 2024, in what passengers described as a terrifying scene aboard a Singapore Airlines plane that suffered severe turbulence and made an emergency landing in Bangkok.
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The turbulence was caused by thunderstorms during Thailand’s annual rainy season. Flight tracking data suggested that the plane fell more than 1,800 meters (6,000 feet) in just five minutes.
Andrew Davies, a British passenger aboard the Boeing 777 traveling from London to Singapore, told BBC Radio 5 that the plane “came down suddenly” and there was “very little warning.”
“During the few seconds that the plane went down, there was a terrible scream and what sounded like a thud,” he said, adding that he helped a woman who was “screaming in agony” with a “cut on her head.”
He described seeing people with head lacerations and bleeding ears.: “I was covered in coffee. It was incredibly severe turbulence.”
Most of the passengers injured on the flight suffered blows to the head, said Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport director Kittipong Kittikachorn, who confirmed the age and nationality of the deceased.
Emergency vehicles arrived on the tarmac at the Thai capital’s main airport with lights on and sirens sounding after the plane landed at 3:45 p.m. (0845 GMT).
“At 3:35 p.m., the airport received a distress call from the Singapore Airlines flight saying there were passengers on board injured due to turbulence and requesting an emergency landing,” Suvarnabhumi Airport said in a statement.
“The plane landed at the airport and a medical team was sent to treat all the injured.”
Flight SQ321 took off from London Heathrow Airport and “encountered sudden extreme turbulence” at 11,300 meters (37,000 ft) above Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Basinaccording to Singapore Airlines.
It confirmed in a statement that there were “injuries and one fatality” and said there were a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board.
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Passengers “too casual”
Bangkok’s Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital said a total of 71 people had been sent for treatment, six of them seriously injured.
“We deeply apologize for the traumatic experience our passengers and crew members suffered on this flight. We are providing all necessary assistance during this difficult time,” Singapore Airlines said.
Of the passengers, 56 were Australian, 47 British and 41 Singaporean.the airline said.
“In terms of what exactly happened, it’s too early to tell. But I think passengers are too casual on board commercial airliners,” American aerospace safety expert Anthony Brickhouse told AFP.
“The moment the captain turns off the seat belt sign, people literally unbuckle themselves.”
Allison Barker told the BBC that her son Josh, who was on board the plane, sent her a text message saying he was on “a crazy flight” that was making an emergency landing.
“It was terrifying“, said. “I didn’t know what was happening. We didn’t know if she had survived, it was very stressful. They were the longest two hours of my life.“.
Singapore will send investigators
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.
The episode marks the latest drama involving a Boeing plane, after a fuselage panel of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX exploded in January, as well as two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Boeing said it was “ready to support” Singapore Airlines.
“We express our deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one, and our thoughts are with the passengers and crew,” Boeing said on the X social media platform.
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Source: https://www.noticiascaracol.com/mundo/turbulencia-en-avion-de-singapur-imagenes-del-aterrador-incidente-que-cobro-una-vida-cb20
