The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft of Singapore Airlines, flight SQ321 from Heathrow is seen on tarmac after requesting an emergency landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International airport, Thailand, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. One person has died aboard a London-Singapore flight that encountered severe turbulence, Singapore Airlines said Tuesday, in which the plane apparently plummeted for a number of minutes before it was diverted to Bangkok, where emergency crews rushed to help injured passengers amid stormy weather. —Associated Press
BANGKOK, Thailand — A 73-year-old British passenger was killed on a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight flying to Singapore from London, Kittipong Kittikachorn, general manager of the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, confirmed during a press conference on Tuesday night.
Flight SQ321 fell into an air pocket while cabin crew were serving breakfast before it encountered turbulence, prompting the pilots to request an emergency landing in the Thai capital.
The British passenger likely died of a heart attack, the airport chief said.
READ: 1 killed, 30 hurt after London-SG flight hit by severe turbulence
Dozens were hurt, with seven of them critically injured, he added. Nine crew members were also taken to hospital.
The wife of the British man who died aboard the SQ321 flight was also taken to hospital, said Kittikachorn.
He did not elaborate on her condition.
READ: 12 injured as severe turbulence rattles plane from LA to Manila — PAL
Singapore Airlines has sent 50 staff members to support the passengers in Bangkok.
Kittikachorn also said that the Thai authorities will cooperate with the Singapore team to transfer affected passengers back home, but some passengers have said they would like to stay in Bangkok to look after family members who are injured.
The Straits Times’ Indochina Bureau chief Tan Hui Yee was earlier at the airport, where the SQ321 flight was diverted to. Everything appeared normal in the public areas of the airport, she said.