Singapore Airlines turbulence: Images show damage inside plane after one killed

Passengers and officials have described scenes of chaos inside the Singapore Airlines flight struck by severe turbulence before an emergency landing in Thailand. One told Sky News it was all so sudden that the cabin crew didn't have time to sit down.

Tuesday 21 May 2024 17:33, UK

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Images have revealed damage caused to a Singapore Airlines plane after the flight from London Heathrow was caught in turbulence.

One British man, 73, died during the incident, with multiple people injured as Flight SQ321 began to shake during breakfast.

Kittipong Kittikachorn, the head of Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, told reporters about 30 people were injured, including at least one crew member.

Images from inside the plane, which was heading to Singapore - but diverted to Bangkok, Thailand - show the damage caused during the turbulence.

Passenger Andrew Davies, who was sitting in premium economy, told Sky News he was watching a movie when the sign to fasten seatbelts lit up and the plane began plummeting.

He said it all happened so quickly that the captain didn't even have time to inform the cabin crew to sit down.

"Every single cabin crew person I saw was injured in some way or another, maybe with a gash on their head… one had a bad back, who was in obvious pain," he said.

"I don't think they could give us any notice, I suspect they gave us as much notice as they possibly could."

He also said anyone who had a seatbelt on wasn't physically injured.

Another passenger on board suggested people not wearing a seatbelt were "launched immediately into the ceiling" after the plane suffered a "dramatic drop".

"The crew and people inside lavatories were hurt the most because we discovered people just on the ground not able to get up," Dzafran Azmir said.

"There were a lot of spinal and head injuries."

People dropped to the ground, he said, and his phone "flew out" of his hand and "went a couple aisles to the side", while people's shoes "flung about".

Once the plane was on the tarmac, nurses and rescue workers came in to check on the injured, Mr Azmir said.

"I don't think they anticipated how bad it was," he added.

Ambulances later arrived and Mr Azmir said he saw at least eight people on stretchers being pulled out of the emergency exits. It took 90 minutes to evacuate the plane, he said.

Images showed damage to the ceiling of the cabin, and food, cutlery and other debris strewn on the floor in the aftermath of the incident.

Mr Kittikachorn said some of the injured suffered cuts to the head, and described the incident as "chaotic".

The flight, operated by a Boeing 777-300ER jet, departed at 10.17pm on Monday and was diverted to Bangkok, landing at 3.45pm local time (9.45am BST) on Tuesday.