Singapore Airlines passenger dies after Boeing jet hits ‘severe turbulence’

A Singapore Airlines flight makes an emergency landing after reports of extreme turbulence and a dead passenger. (Credit: Viral Press)

A Singapore airlines The flight made an emergency landing in Bangkok on Tuesday after “severe turbulence” that left one person dead and 30 others injured, the airline said.

O Boeing 777-300ER The jet was heading from London to Singapore with 211 passengers and 18 crew on board. Singapore Airlines said the plane, while traveling at 37,000 feet, “encountered severe turbulence en route” over Burma before diverting to Bangkok, Thailand.

“Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased. We deeply apologize for the traumatic experience our passengers and crew suffered on this flight,” he said. “We are providing all necessary assistance during this difficult time.”

The airline said 30 people were also injured and that the flight had four Americans on board.

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The interior of Singapore Airline flight SQ321 is pictured after an emergency landing at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday, May 21.

The deceased passenger was identified by authorities as a 73-year-old British man, according to the Associated Press. His exact cause of death was not disclosed.

“I saw things scattered everywhere and many injured crew members,” Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport general manager Kittipong Kittikachorn said during a press conference after the plane landed, according to Reuters.

Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old passenger on board the flight, told Reuters that “suddenly the aircraft [started] leaning up and shaking, then I started to brace myself for what was happening and then suddenly there was a very dramatic drop so that everyone who was sitting and not wearing a seatbelt was immediately thrown into the ceiling.”

A passenger on board the Singapore Airlines flight told Reuters that travelers were thrown from their seats when they encountered turbulence. (Reuters)

“Some people hit their heads on the luggage compartments and dented them, hit the places where the lights and masks are and broke them,” added Azmir.

Flight tracking data from the website FlightAware shows the aircraft quickly lost several thousand feet of altitude after traveling at 37,000 feet.

Videos shared by Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport showed ambulances rushing to the scene after the plane landed, according to the Associated Press.

The interior of the Singapore Airlines plane is exposed after suffering damage from turbulence. (/Photos from Reuters)

Boeing did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment from FOX Business.

Ambulances are lined up in preparation for the arrival of the Singapore Airlines flight. (Viral Press)

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The last fatal accident involving a Singapore Airlines plane occurred in 2000, when 83 people died in Singapore after an aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff, the Aviation Safety Network says.

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