Every once in a while, turbulence can jounce flying planes, leading to injuries. These encounters are common, but a recent tragic flight has resulted in more than just injuries—it included a fatality and 30 injured passengers, which may be considered a miracle given the severe wreckage of the jet.
A Singapore Airlines jet experienced severe turbulence on a flight from London to Singapore, injuring 30 passengers and crew. The turbulence struck suddenly over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar, about 10 hours into the flight. The pilot declared a medical emergency and diverted the aircraft to Bangkok.
The turbulence caused a sudden drop in altitude, flinging passengers and crew around the cabin and forcing an emergency landing in Bangkok. Tragically, a 73-year-old British man died, likely from a heart attack. Seven people were critically injured, some with head injuries.
Reconstructing the incident from publicly available tracking data was initially impossible, but FlightRadar24 is analyzing data around 0749 GMT. The plane requested an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport and landed at 3:51 p.m. Uninjured passengers disembarked and boarded another aircraft.
Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau will send investigators to Bangkok to investigate the incident.
