{"id":9151,"date":"2024-05-22T09:21:41","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T09:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9151"},"modified":"2024-05-22T09:21:41","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T09:21:41","slug":"one-dead-71-injured-after-severe-turbulence-hits-singapore-airlines-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9151","title":{"rendered":"One dead, 71 injured after severe turbulence hits Singapore Airlines flight"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One person has died and at least 71 others were injured on board a Singapore Airlines plane that encountered\u00a0severe turbulence<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>on a flight from London to Singapore.<\/p>\n

The Boeing\u00a0777-300ER plane diverted to Bangkok, according to a post on the Singapore Airlines Facebook page. It said 211 passengers and 18 crew were on board.<\/p>\n

The company said initially in a post that 30 passengers had been hurt in the mid-air disruption and were being treated in hospitals, while other travelers were receiving outpatient care at the airport.<\/p>\n

The one person who died was a 73-year-old British man, identified as Geoff Kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cPreliminary investigations indicate that the deceased suffered from a heart condition,\u201d the General Manager of Bangkok\u2019s Suvarnabhumi International Airport Kittipong Kittikachorn said Tuesday, adding that the autopsy process was still ongoing.<\/p>\n

Kitchen\u2019s death was confirmed by the Thornbury Musical Theatre Group (TMTG), an establishment where he worked for over 35 years, in a Facebook post that described him as \u201calways a gentleman with the utmost honesty and integrity\u201d and who \u201calways did what was right for the group.\u201d<\/p>\n

The British Foreign Office told CNN it was supporting the family of a British passenger who died on a Singapore Airlines flight.<\/p>\n

The flight landed in the Thai capital at 3:45 p.m. local time (4:45 a.m. ET) Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Kittikachorn, who inspected the aircraft, told CNN he was informed of the emergency landing 10 minutes before it touched down. He also said that several passengers had sustained broken arms but that the majority of injuries were cuts and bruises.<\/p>\n

Some injured passengers were sent to the nearby Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, Kittikachorn said, adding that almost 200 travelers were waiting to take onward flights to their destinations. A Singapore Airlines plane carrying 131 of the 211 passengers later departed Bangkok for Singapore, he said.<\/p>\n

The hospital said in an update that at least 71 people had been injured, including citizens from Malaysia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Spain, the United States and Ireland. It also said six people are severely injured. Earlier,\u00a0Kittikachorn had said seven people were critically injured.<\/p>\n

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\nThe interior of Singapore Airline flight SQ321 is pictured after an emergency landing at Bangkok\u2019s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thailand, on May 21.\u00a0 Reuters\n<\/div>\n
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Flight likely encountered rapidly developing thunderstorms<\/h2>\n

The aviation tracking site FlightRadar24 says, based on its data, that the turbulence on Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 occurred over Myanmar at approximately 7:49 a.m. UTC (3:49 a.m. ET).<\/p>\n

This lines up with\u00a0a statement from the airline<\/a>\u00a0stating that the plane, \u201cencountered sudden extreme turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin [a river in Myanmar] at 37,000 feet, about 10 hours after departure.\u201d<\/p>\n

FlightRadar24 said in\u00a0a blog post<\/a>\u00a0that, according to its data, at that time, \u201dthe flight encountered a rapid change in vertical rate, consistent with a sudden turbulence event.\u201d<\/p>\n

The data show the flight changing course about 14 minutes later. The airline says, \u201cThe pilot declared a medical emergency and diverted the aircraft to Bangkok.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FlightRadar24 data show the flight, which was cruising at 37,000 feet, suddenly dipping then rapidly climbing a few hundred feet before dipping and climbing again and then finally settling back at its cruising altitude. The entire disruption took about 90 seconds, according to the data, but resulted in dozens of injuries, including a fatality.<\/p>\n

The flight likely encountered rapidly developing thunderstorms over southern Myanmar on Tuesday during the time that extreme turbulence was reported, according to CNN\u00a0Weather\u00a0analysis.<\/p>\n

The analysis of satellite data shows an area of developing thunderstorms over the Irrawaddy Delta between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. GMT (early afternoon local time). This corresponds to the same time and location reported by the airline and independent data analysis of the flight track from FlightRadar24.<\/p>\n

Tropical\u00a0thunderstorms like these are typical for this time of year with moisture increasing in the region as the southwest monsoon season is beginning in South Asia. They can form quickly in the early afternoon as the land heats up, especially near the coastline.<\/p>\n

Budding thunderstorms like Tuesday\u2019s may not appear on radar in their earliest stages, even though the quick rising motion within them can still produce turbulence. The storm cells likely grew from 20,000-30,000 feet to well over 50,000 feet in less than an hour.<\/p>\n

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Investigations underway<\/h2>\n

Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam issued a statement on his social media accounts, expressing \u201ccondolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not have the details of those affected, but know that the government ministries and agencies, as well as SIA, are doing their utmost to support all those affected and working with the authorities in Bangkok, where the plane had been diverted to,\u201d Shanmugaratnam said.<\/p>\n

Singapore\u2019s Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat\u00a0said he was \u201cdeeply saddened to learn about the incident,\u201d in a statement posted to his social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinistry of Transport, Singapore, Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Changi Airport officials as well as SIA [Singapore Airlines] staff are providing support to the affected passengers and their families,\u201d he\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

Singapore\u2019s Ministry of Transport said in a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0that it was investigating the situation involving SQ321 and its Transport Safety Investigation Bureau was in touch with their Thai counterparts.<\/p>\n

Turbulence occurs when a plane flies through clashing bodies of air moving at widely different speeds.<\/p>\n

With light and moderate turbulence passengers might feel a strain against their seatbelt, and unsecured items could move around the cabin.<\/p>\n

But in severe cases turbulence can throw passengers around the cabin, causing severe injuries and occasionally death.<\/p>\n

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\nThe interior of Singapore Airline flight SQ321 is pictured after an emergency landing at Bangkok\u2019s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thailand, on May 21.\u00a0 Reuters\n<\/div>\n
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In March 2023,\u00a0violent movements\u00a0on a private jet<\/a>\u00a0resulted in the death of a former White House official, though an investigation later found that weather\u00a0was not involved in that incident<\/a>.\u00a0That incident came just days\u00a0after seven people were transported to hospitals after a\u00a0separate commercial flight<\/a>\u00a0hit significant turbulence.<\/p>\n

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In July 2023, seven people were injured on a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Sydney, Australia, when the plane was buffeted by severe turbulence, and 36 people<\/a>\u00a0were injured on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Arizona to Honolulu in December 2022, with 20 people taken to emergency rooms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A September 2022 study predicts that clear-air turbulence will increase significantly around the globe by the period 2050-2080, in particular along the busiest flight routes, and the strongest type of turbulence will increase the most.<\/p>\n

Singapore Airlines is often considered\u00a0one of the world\u2019s safest carriers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Its only previous fatal accident was in October 2000 when flight\u00a0SQ006 crashed\u00a0<\/a>when the Boeing 747-400 took off from a closed runway in Taiwan amid heavy rain, killing 83 on board.<\/p>\n

Singapore Airlines said later Tuesday that a dedicated team had arrived in Bangkok \u201cto support our colleagues and the local authorities on the ground\u201d in an update on its Facebook page.<\/p>\n

The flight operator expressed its \u201cdeepest condolences to the family of the deceased. We deeply apologize for the traumatic experience that our passengers and crew members suffered on this flight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boeing has said it is in touch with the Singaporean carrier and is \u201cready to support them.\u201d The manufacturer is deferring further questions to the airline and local authorities.<\/p>\n

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One person has died and at least 71 others were injured on board a Singapore Airlines plane that encountered\u00a0severe turbulence\u00a0on a flight from London to Singapore. The Boeing\u00a0777-300ER plane diverted… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}