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Bangkok: A flight of Singapore Airlines got stuck in turbulence on Tuesday due to bad weather. The jolts were so strong that the aircraft came down 6 thousand feet in just 5 minutes. A few seconds before the turbulence, the aircraft was at an altitude of 37 thousand feet and after the turbulence it came down to 31 thousand feet. One passenger (passengers) sitting in the aircraft died due to the sudden jolts. More than 30 passengers were also injured. After the turbulence, the flight was made to make an emergency landing in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. Many videos and photos of the scary situation inside the flight during the turbulence are being shared on social media. In the videos and photos going viral, fear can be clearly seen on the faces of the passengers.
Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ER flight took off from London at 2:45 am on Monday night as per Indian time. The flight was scheduled to land in Singapore at 3:40 pm, but 11 hours after takeoff, it got stuck in turbulence at 37 thousand feet in Myanmar’s airspace. According to a BBC report, many passengers were not wearing seat belts during the turbulence. The crew team did not even give a warning about this. In such a situation, many passengers collided here and there due to the strong jolts. Many people’s heads hit the ceiling. In a video going viral, food containers can be seen falling on some passengers. They suffered serious injuries. During this, one passenger died.
A British citizen died
The flight was diverted to Bangkok at 2:15 pm on Tuesday as per Indian time. According to Kittipong Kittikachorn, general manager of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, a 73-year-old British citizen has died during the turbulence. 6 people have suffered serious injuries. The rest have suffered minor or minor injuries.
The jolts were felt while food was being served
Zafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student on the flight, told ABC News, “Food was being served to the passengers in the flight. Then there was turbulence. Suddenly the plane started tilting upwards. It started shaking rapidly. I was getting ready for whatever was happening. Suddenly there was a strong jolt. It seemed as if the plane was going to fall down. Many people were not wearing seat belts, they collided with the ceiling. Some people hit their heads on the luggage cabin. The oxygen masks opened due to the jolts. Parts of the ceiling and fittings fell down.”
People wearing seat belts remained safe
British passenger Andrew Davis told news agency ‘AP’, “Whoever was wearing a seat belt at that time did not get hurt. The sign to wear seat belts during turbulence was on, but everything happened so quickly and suddenly that the crew team members did not get a chance to wear seat belts.”
Singapore Airlines plane shook so fast in the air, one passenger died, more than 30 injured
Many members of the cabin crew team were injured
Davis said, “I saw that every member of the cabin crew was injured in some way or the other. One had a head injury. Another member had serious injuries on the back. The pain of the injury could be clearly seen on his face.”
Many ambulances present at the airport
Meanwhile, the emergency medical team immediately left to help the passengers. Many ambulances were seen going to the spot at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Suvarnabhumi Airport General Manager Kittipong Kittikachorn told a media briefing on Tuesday night, “It seems that the British passenger had a heart attack during the turbulence, but medical officers will have to confirm this.”
7 passengers suffered serious injuries
According to Suvarnabhumi Airport General Manager Kittipong Kittikachorn, 7 passengers have suffered serious injuries in the turbulence. 23 passengers and 9 crew members have suffered minor injuries. While 16 people have suffered minor injuries. 14 passengers were given medical help at the airport itself.
Kittipong said that this is the first time that a case of handling passengers of a plane caught in air turbulence has come up at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Every possible help is being provided to the passengers of the flight inside the terminal.
