Singapore Airlines death – updates: One killed and up to 30 injured after extreme turbulence on London flight

Turbulence-related airline accidents are the most common type, according to a 2021 study by the National Transportation Safety Board.

From 2009 through 2018, the US agency found that turbulence accounted for more than a third of reported airline accidents and most resulted in one or more serious injuries, but no aircraft damage.

Thai immigration police said medics had boarded the plane to assess injuries, but could not confirm the number.

Uninjured passengers have disembarked, police said.

The incident comes a year after two British Airways cabin crew suffered broken legs when a flight from Singapore to Heathrow last June was affected by severe turbulence over the Bay of Bengal.

A report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said “unsecured cabin crew were thrown around in the cabin”, resulting in two crew members being seriously injured and three sustaining minor injuries.

No passengers were hurt and the plane returned to Singapore.

One study suggests aircraft encounter severe clear air turbulence at least 790 times a year, which works out at once every 11 hours. But climate researchers say the incidence at a typical point over the North Atlantic increased by 55 per cent between 1979 and 2020.

According to Paul Williams, Professor of Atmospheric Science in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading, a doubling of carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere would increase the average amount of severe clear air turbulence at 36,000 feet over the North Atlantic by 149 per cent. As a result, hazardous turbulence on commercial flights could become twice or even three times more common than it is today – with five serious cases a day on average.

Environmentalists will say that airline passengers are causing the very problems that they are alarmed about – since aviation contributes to the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

Tracking data captured by FlightRadar24 and analysed by The Associated Press showed the Singapore Airlines flight cruising at an altitude of 37,000 feet.

However the data then showed the the Boeing 777 suddenly and sharply pitching down to 31,000 feet over the space of around three minutes.

The aircraft stayed at 31,000 feet for just under 10 minutes before rapidly descending and landing in Bangkok in just under half an hour.

A passenger travelling on the diverted flight has described a “very dramatic drop” which launched everyone without a seatbelt on “immediately into the ceiling” – in some instances denting the overhead lockers.

“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.

“Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it, they hit the places where lights and masks are and broke straight through it.”

Here is the route which flight SQ321 was travelling when it was diverted to Bangkok.

The US National Weather Service says: “Turbulence is caused by abrupt, irregular movements of air that create sharp, quick updrafts/downdrafts. These updrafts and downdrafts occur in combinations and move aircraft unexpectedly.”

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines clear-air turbulence as “sudden severe turbulence occurring in cloudless regions that causes violent buffeting of aircraft … CAT is especially troublesome because it is often encountered unexpectedly and frequently without visual clues to warn pilots of the hazard.”

Here is the airline’s statement in full:

“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.

“We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing 777-300ER. There were a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew on board.

“Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased.

“Our priority is to provide all possible assistance to all passengers and crew on board the aircraft. We are working with the local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary medical assistance, and sending a team to Bangkok to provide any additional assistance needed.

“We will provide regular updates on our Facebook and X accounts.”

Yes, very rare. But injuries on board an aircraft can be alarming.

Writing for the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa), former pilot and flight safety specialist Steve Landells says: “The injuries we see tend to occur when people aren’t strapped in. This may be because the turbulence is encountered without warning but we also see quite a lot of people hurt because they don’t obey the ‘fasten seat belt’ instructions.”

Cabin crew are particularly vulnerable.