There were 211 passengers on board.
A 73-year-old British man has died and 30 other passengers have been injured during ‘severe turbulence’ on a flight from London to Singapore on Monday.
Flight SQ321 left London Heathrow at 10pm on Monday night and was forced to divert to Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok after encountering severe turbulence en-route.
The Boeing 777-300ER landed in the Thai capital at 3:45pm local.
Authorities in Bangkok say the man probably died of a heart attack. His wife has also been admitted to hospital but her condition is unknown.
In a statement, Singapore Airlines said: “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,” they said.
“Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased.”
Singapore Airlines flight #SQ321, operating from London (Heathrow) to Singapore on 20 May 2024, encountered severe turbulence en-route. The aircraft diverted to Bangkok and landed at 1545hrs local time on 21 May 2024.
— Singapore Airlines (@SingaporeAir) May 21, 2024
We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on…
Singapore Airlines said they were “working with the local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary medical assistance”, and were sending a team to Bangkok to provide additional assistance.
It is still unclear as to what happened on board the flight at this time.
Turbulence is a common occurrence on flights and most incidences only cause slight bumpiness during travel – extreme cases are a rare phenomenon.
Sky’s Asia correspondent Cordelia Lynch said: “There’s some suggestion the flight hit an air pocket before it had to make this emergency landing.
“There are some images circulating on social media that show parts of the plane inside and a lot of scattered debris.”
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