The passenger who died during severe turbulence on a Singapore Airlines flight between London's Heathrow Airport and Singapore has been identified as a 73-year-old British grandfather on a dream vacation, according to a report.
Geoffrey Kitchen was on the flight with his wife Linda when the deadly incident took place. The couple had just started a six week trip to Singapore, Indonesia, Japan and Australia, the Sun reported.
"We are really upset. My wife is upstairs crying," neighbor Steve Dimond told the paper. "He was a really nice guy. I last saw them on Sunday night and my wife saw them drive off on Monday."
Kitchen was a retiree involved in local theater.
"He was a good singer, a fine actor, he was on the committee, he loved musical theatre," Dimond said.
The couple was described as very adventurous and had been planning the vacation for a long time.
Passengers described people being "launched into the ceiling" when the plane suddenly dropped about 11 hours into the flight. 18 people were hospitalized, the airline reported. Seven victims reportedly suffered critical injuries. One of the injured was Kitchen's wife but her condition was unknown, the Daily Mail reported.
The plane was at 37,000 feet but rapidly dropped around 6,000 feet, flight tracking data on FlightAware showed.
Passenger Dzafran Azmir described the scene to Sky News.
"Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it," Azmir said. "They hit the places where lights and masks are and broke straight through it."
Passenger Andrew Davies posted on X, "Lots of people injured - including the air stewards who were stoic and did everything they could."
"People's belongings scattered, coffee and water splattered the ceiling. Surreal. So many injured people. head lascerations, bleeding ears. A lady was screaming in pain with a bad back. I couldn't help her - just got her water," Davies said.
The airline says the Boeing 777-300ER diverted to Bangkok and landed about 3:45 p.m. local time at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
There were a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew on board.
"Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased," the company said in a statement on social media.