Singapore Airlines turbulence probe: investigators analyse SQ321 flight data recorders

Singaporean investigators are analysing a cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder after one passenger died and more than 100 were injured when a Singapore Airlines plane hit severe turbulence this week, the country’s transport minister said on Friday.

Passengers and crew aboard flight SQ321 suffered skull, brain and spine injuries when they were thrown violently around the cabin during Tuesday’s terrifying high-altitude ordeal.

The London-to-Singapore flight carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok, where at least 48 people are still being treated in hospital.

Flight tracking data shows the Boeing 777-300ER plunged 1,800 metres (6,000 feet) in just a few minutes, with passengers saying it happened, so suddenly there was no time for many to fasten their seat belts.

“We have a team that went to Bangkok, and they have obtained the data from the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder,” Singapore’s Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said in a statement.

“They are going through the data from these two recorders now to be able to ascertain what happened during those moments. So, we await investigation findings to understand what happened during that time.”

Singapore Airlines said earlier on Friday it has tightened seat belt rules on its flights after the incident and that it has introduced a “more cautious approach” to turbulence.