First image of man killed on Singapore Airlines flight after extreme turbulence
The Brit pensioner who died following a heart attack onboard the Singapore Airlines flight on which he was travelling hit severe turbulence has been named.
Geoffrey Ralph Kitchen, 73, is believed to have been hurled from side-to-side when the plane was struck by treacherous conditions at 37,000ft above the Indian Ocean, The Mirror reported. The plane, bound for Singapore, had to make an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.
Images taken there show emergency services swarm the jet but Mr Kitchen, believed to be from Thornbury, Gloucestershire, was pronounced dead.
READ MORE:‘Brit’ Singapore Airlines passenger killed by turbulence with 30 more injured on UK flight
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Mr Kitchen died and several other passengers aboard Flight SQ321 have suffered injuries after it encountered difficulty amid thunderstorms.
(Image: X)
It was destined for Singapore Changi Airport but had to make an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport after dropping 6,000ft in just three minutes.
Photos, which have emerged on social media site X, show distressed passengers, including a severely bloodied man in his seat. In another picture, a woman is embraced by her fellow passenger.
Singapore Airlines staff are pictured in their seats, and one woman has a cut on her face.
(Image: X)
Further images capture the carnage left on the floor of the cabin. Food from the in-flight meals is strewn on the floor amid the debris.
Air masks are seen deployed, as in the case when aircrafts experience emergency landings.
However, one snap shows ceiling fittings ripped apart and the pipework exposed. Machinery is hanging from the galley where trolleys are stored.
More than 200 passengers were aboard the Boeing 777, which left London Heathrow last night. A passenger on board said the plane suffered a “dramatic drop”, meaning people not wearing a seatbelt were “launched immediately into the ceiling”.
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