Singapore Airlines turbulence: ‘very freak’ incident for flight SQ321, with probe expected to last up to 9 months
- Industry experts say the ‘very freak’ turbulence flight SQ321 encountered could have been jet stream, a fast-moving air current caused by large temperature differences
- The British man who died has been identified as Geoff Kitchen, who helped run a local theatre group and was described as ‘always a gentleman’
Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 encountered “very freak” turbulence and investigation findings are expected to take up to nine months, but the goal is not to “apportion blame”, industry experts say.
A retired Singapore Airlines pilot with more than 30 years of flying experience – including with Boeing 777-300ER planes, the model involved in the incident – told This Week in Asia on Wednesday that he had not encountered a similar degree of turbulence as in the latest incident, which left one passenger dead and 30 others injured.
Since the news of the incident broke, photos of the plane interior – showing food strewn across the floor, oxygen masks and panels hanging from the ceiling and luggage scattered around – have been widely circulated across social media.
“I have been through some bad turbulence before but nothing like this. The aircraft will shake a bit but not be damaged internally,” said the former pilot, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The scheduled London-Singapore flight on a Boeing 777-300ER made an emergency landing in Bangkok on Tuesday after it encountered sudden extreme turbulence over Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Basin, according to the airline.
A 73-year-old British passenger died from a suspected heart attack, while several passengers had to be carried out of the plane on stretchers. Among the injured, seven are in critical condition, according to Thai airport authorities.