Plane passengers to be informed to put on seatbelts for the entire flight
- Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, a retired musical director was killed during the incident
Plane passengers will be told to wear seatbelts for the entire duration of their flight after severe turbulence killed a British man last month.
Dozens of airlines are toughening up their safety instructions in the wake of one man’s death on the Singapore Airlines flight which experienced extreme turbulence while flying close to Myanmar airspace.
Safety teams are now urging passengers to wear their seatbelts at all times during the flight even when the seatbelt sign is off. Seatbelt signs are also being turned on faster, even in mild turbulence.
Passengers are also being told to make crew aware immediately if their phone gets stuck in their seat, The Times reported.
Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, a retired musical director from outside Bristol was killed and more than 100 passengers were admitted to hospital as a result of the incident.
The interior of Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 is pictured after an emergency landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport
Food and drink is scattered across the plane in the aftermath of the extreme turbulence
Masks hanging from the ceiling of the SQ321 flight pictured after an emergency landing in Bangkok
Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, (pictured) a retired musical director from outside Bristol was killed during the incident
The Boeing 777 plane left the UK’s Heathrow airport on Monday, May 17 and was travelling to Singapore, carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew on board.
But after around 11 hours of flying time, the aircraft sharply dropped from an altitude of around 37,000 feet to 31,000 feet within just five minutes as it finished traversing the Andaman Sea and neared Thailand.
Terrified passengers have described how they had little warning to put their seatbelts on before the aircraft suddenly dropped.
Those not wearing seatbelts were ‘launched into the ceiling,’ one said, their heads slamming into the overhead luggage containers.
The plane – registered 9V-SWM – was diverted to the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok where it made an emergency landing at 15.45pm local time, the airline announced on its Facebook page.
It had been scheduled to land at the Singapore Changi Airport at 6.10pm local time.
Ambulances were pictured on the tarmac in Bangkok next to the plane, with emergency service workers seen carrying at least one person away in a stretcher.
As a result of the incident, around 21 airlines have signed up to the International Air Transport Association’s ‘turbulence aware’ programme that gives advance warnings to cockpits.
Flight tracking websites showed flight SQ321 diverting from its planned route to Singapore and instead landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok
Emergency workers are seen on the tarmac of the airport in Thailand today
In a statement on Facebook, Singapore Airlines confirmed the emergency landing and that one passenger had died in the incident.
‘Singapore Airlines flight SQ321, operating from London (Heathrow) to Singapore on 20 May 2024, encountered severe turbulence en-route,’ the statement from the airline said. ‘The aircraft diverted to Bangkok and landed at 1545hrs local time.
‘We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing 777-300ER. There were a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew on board,’ it said.
‘Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased.
‘Our priority is to provide all possible assistance to all passengers and crew on board the aircraft,’ the statement added. ‘We are working with the local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary medical assistance, and sending a team to Bangkok to provide any additional assistance needed.’
Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student on board the Singapore Airlines flight, told Reuters news agency that the plane started shaking before suddenly plummeting.
The flashing lights of emergency service vehicles are seen at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok
A passenger died and 30 others were injured on a flight from London to Singapore this afternoon forcing an emergency landing in Thailand. Pictured: The plane and ambulances are seen on the tarmac at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok
A person is seen being carried away from the aircraft on a stretcher in Bangkok
‘Suddenly the aircraft starts tilting up and there was shaking so I started bracing for what was happening, and very suddenly there was a very dramatic drop so everyone seated and not wearing seatbelt was launched immediately into the ceiling,’ he said.
‘Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it, they hit the places where lights and masks are and broke straight through it.’
Singapore’s Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said his country’s government would assist the passengers and their families.
‘I am deeply saddened to learn about the incident onboard Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 from London Heathrow to Singapore,’ he wrote on Facebook.
Speaking to the BBC, aviation expert John Strickland said that injuries from flight turbulence are ‘relatively rare’ considering how many flights operate each day.
However, severe turbulence can be dramatic and lead to severe injuries or sadly in this case a fatality,’ he added. ‘It is not for nothing that airlines recommend keeping seat belts loosely fastened throughout a flight be it long or short.’
Turbulence-related airline accidents are the most common type, according to a 2021 study by the National Transportation Safety Board.
