Breakfast was being served, turbulence hit: Horror on Singapore Airlines flight (2024)

Pictures and videos capture the sheer panic and horror as severe turbulence hit a Singapore Airlines flight from London on Tuesday. One passenger was killed and 30 were reportedly injured in the turbulence which forced the flight to make an emergency landing in Bangkok.

The flight had fallen into an air pocket in Thai airspace prior to encountering turbulence, a senior Thailand airport official was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.

Singapore Airlines said that flight SQ321, operating from London (Heathrow) to Singapore on May 20, encountered sudden extreme turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin at 37,000 feet about 10 hours after departure. The pilot declared a medical emergency and diverted the aircraft to Bangkok, and landed at 3:45 pm local time on May 21, the airline said.

A video of the inside of the aircraft after it made an emergency landing shows dented overhead bins, food items strewn on the floor, and oxygen masks and fan panels hanging off the ceiling.

A 73-year-old British man died during the incident. Suvarnabhumi airport general manager Kittipong Kittikachorn said that the death was likely due to a heart attack. The British man was travelling with his wife, per BBC report, and she has been admitted to a hospital in Bangkok.

Several people suffered head injuries in the incident. Singapore Airlines said eighteen people have been hospitalised and 12 are being treated in hospitals.

The flight crew was serving breakfast right before the plane encountered turbulence.

A passenger who was onboard the flight told BBC about the chaos inside after the aircraft "suddenly dropped".

“I was covered in coffee... During the few seconds of the plane dropping there was an awful screaming and what sounded like a thud," Andrew Davies was quoted as saying by BBC

According to FlightRadar 24 data, "our initial thinking is the turbulence event is prior to the standard descent from 37,000 to 31,000 feet. That appears to just be a flight level change in preparation for landing."

A passenger on board the flight said the passengers not wearing seatbelts were launched 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, a 28-year-old student on board the flight told Reuters.

The Boeing 777-300ER plane with 211 passengers and 18 crew was headed to Singapore when it made the emergency landing.

The tracking data from FlightRadar 24 shows the drop in altitude and speed of the aircraft.

Singapore Airlines in a statement confirmed the fatality. The airline said that the flight had encountered severe turbulence while on its way to Singapore.

"Singapore Airlines flight SQ321, operating from London (Heathrow) to Singapore on 20 May 2024, encountered severe turbulence en-route. The aircraft diverted to Bangkok and landed at 1545hrs local time on 21 May 2024. We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing 777-300ER," the statement read.

"Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased," it added.

Singapore Airlines was using a 16-year-old 777 model for the aircraft that was hit by turbulence on Tuesday, BBC reported.

Meanwhile, Singapore's Ministry of Transport said Transport Safety Investigation Bureau will be probing the Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 incident, as per Reuters report.