BANGKOK — A Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER flight from London to Singapore suffered severe turbulence on Tuesday, leaving at least one person dead and 30 others injured before making an emergency landing in Bangkok.
Flight SQ321 took off from London’s Heathrow airport with 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board. The aircraft encountered severe turbulence en route, causing the plane to plummet for several minutes before landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok at 3:45 pm local time.
The airline confirmed that one person had died, with another fatality reported at a Thai hospital. The cause of the turbulence and the extent of the injuries were not immediately clear.
Passenger Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student, described the terrifying experience: “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 a seatbelt was launched immediately into the ceiling.”
Tracking data from FlightRadar24 showed the plane cruising at 37,000 feet before suddenly pitching down to 31,000 feet over a three-minute period. The aircraft remained at that altitude for nearly 10 minutes before rapidly descending and landing in Bangkok in just under half an hour.
The cause of the turbulence and the extent of the injuries were not immediately clear. The airline said 18 people had been hospitalized, with 12 others receiving treatment in hospitals.
Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam expressed his condolences to the family and loved ones of the person who died. The airline offered its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased.
This is the second fatal incident involving Singapore Airlines in recent years. In October 2000, a plane crashed on a closed runway during takeoff at Taiwan, resulting in the deaths of 83 people.
The incident is under investigation, with Thai immigration police confirming that medical personnel have boarded the plane to assess injuries. Uninjured passengers were deplaned, and the remaining passengers and crew are being examined and treated at the airport.