Singapore Airlines flight hit by ‘gravitational power’ and 178ft drop in 4 secs
Infamous Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 suffered a 54m altitude in just four seconds, an investigation has found.
The incident, which saw the Boeing777-300ER hit severe turbulence, claimed the life of 73-year-old British man Geoffrey Kitchen who suffered a suspected heart attack. The journey from hell took place on May 21 from London to Singapore but now, eight days later, the investigation is shedding light on what went on that day.
Dozens of people were injured, with many launched into the ceiling and food strewn around the cabin. The crew, who were up and about working are understood to have sustained injury. At the time of writing 28 people are understood to still be in hospital in Thailand, where the plane diverted to make an emergency landing.
READ MORE: Singapore Airlines passenger killed by turbulence with 30 others injured on London flight
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The Transport Safety Investigation Bureau said: “The vertical acceleration changed from negative 1.5G to positive 1.5G within 4 seconds. This likely resulted in the occupants who were airborne to fall back down.”
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
It added: “The rapid changes in G over the 4.6 seconds duration resulted in an altitude drop of 178ft (54m), from 37,362 ft to 37,184ft. This sequence of events likely caused the injuries to the crew and passengers.”
Singapore Airlines said last week that the pilot reported a medical emergency onboard and made the decision to touch the plane down in Bangkok, following, “sudden extreme turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin at 37,000ft about 10 hours after departure”.
(Image: X)
One passenger onboard, Passenger Dzafran Azmir, 28, said: “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 seatbelts was launched immediately into the ceiling.
“Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it”.
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