Passengers involved in a deadly incident of severe turbulence on Tuesday described the terror they experienced on the Singapore Airlines flight.
The plane was headed from London's Heathrow Airport to Singapore when the problems started.
The fasten seatbelt signs came on and the plane suddenly dropped.
Passengers described people being "launched into the ceiling."
A video posted to social media showed the moment when the turbulence hit.
This is the moment a flight attendant was thrown to the ceiling of the plane after violent turbulence.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 17, 2019
Ten people had minor injuries on the flight from Pristina to EuroAirport Basel.
For the latest videos, head here: https://t.co/hhDQuQ1top pic.twitter.com/q55fSGl1dQ
The video showed one woman hitting her head on the roof of the plane as items rained down on passengers. Screams are heard in the video.
One woman is shown appearing to pray in the moments that followed.
Airport officials in Bangkok say the victim who died was a 73-year-old British man who likely suffered a heart attack. He was identified as Geoffrey Kitchen, a musical theatre director who was traveling with his wife, the Times of London reported.
18 were hospitalized, the airlines reported. Seven of the passengers reportedly suffered critical injuries.
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," Azmire 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.
Lots of people injured - including the air stewards who were stoic and did everything they could. Bangkok emergency services quick to respond. Very little warning. The seatbelt sign came on, I put on my seatbelt straightaway then the plane just dropped.
— Andrew Davies 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺 (@andrewdavies_70) May 21, 2024
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.
Aftermath of Singapore Airlines flight 321 from London to Singapore which had to divert to Bangkok due to severe turbulence. One death passenger and several injured. Blood everywhere, destroyed cabin. #singaporeairlines #sq321 pic.twitter.com/C2FgrVt9yv
— Josh Cahill (@gotravelyourway) May 21, 2024
"Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased," the company said in a statement on social media.
It added that it was working with the local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary medical assistance to passengers. They were also sent a team to Bangkok to assist.
There were 211 passengers and 18 crew on board the plane.
The nationalities of the passengers are as follows: 56 from Australia, 2 from Canada, 1 from Germany, 3 from India, 2 from Indonesia, 1 from Iceland, 4 from Ireland, 1 from Israel, 16 from Malaysia, 2 from Myanmar, 23 from New Zealand, 5 from the Philippines, 41 from Singapore, 1 from South Korea, 2 from Spain, 47 from the United Kingdom and 4 from the United States.
