Singapore Airlines turbulence: doctor couple on SQ321 describes ‘mass casualty scenario’, aiding others despite injuries

Junior doctors Amos Chan and Ade Tan were flying back from their honeymoon when their plane was hit with catastrophic turbulence that injured dozens

Despite their own injuries, they helped treat fellow passengers, including attempts to resuscitate a British man who died of a suspected heart attack

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Amos Chan with his wife Ade Tan. Photo: Amos Chan

Published: 5:07pm, 31 May 2024

When junior doctor Amos Chan woke up while on his flight from London to Singapore, he was lying in the aisle two rows behind his seat. That was when he realised he must have passed out.

Chan and wife Ade Tan, also a junior doctor, were flying back from their honeymoon in Iceland on Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 on May 21 when the aircraft was hit by severe turbulence that left one dead and dozens injured.

The couple, both 28 years old, told This Week In Asia on Friday they were waiting for their breakfast on the flight to be served when the horror struck, throwing passengers, including Chan, out of their seats.

Tan, who will start her residency in paediatrics in July, said: “It was a mass casualty scenario that we were taught in school, but have never actually seen for ourselves because we rarely see such mass trauma casualties in Singapore.”

The Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER flight to the city state from London had encountered extreme turbulence and what Singapore’s Transport Ministry later described as strong g-forces over 4.6 seconds that resulted in an altitude drop of 178 feet (54 metres).

The interior of Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 is pictured after an emergency landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thailand, May 21. Photo: Reuters

One passenger died of a suspected heart attack, while at least 40 were injured. The plane made an emergency landing in Bangkok.

Singapore Airlines turbulence: doctor couple on SQ321 describes ‘mass casualty scenario’, aiding others despite injuries

Junior doctors Amos Chan and Ade Tan were flying back from their honeymoon when their plane was hit with catastrophic turbulence that injured dozens Despite their own injuries, they helped treat fellow passengers, including attempts to resuscitate a British man who died of a suspected heart attack

Junior doctors Amos Chan and Ade Tan were flying back from their honeymoon when their plane was hit with catastrophic turbulence that injured dozens

Despite their own injuries, they helped treat fellow passengers, including attempts to resuscitate a British man who died of a suspected heart attack