Singapore Airlines mentioned Friday it has tightened seatbelt guidelines on its flights after one passenger died and greater than 100 have been injured when one in every of its planes hit extreme turbulence.
Passengers and crew aboard flight SQ321 suffered cranium, mind and backbone accidents after they have been thrown violently across the cabin throughout Tuesday’s terrifying high-altitude ordeal.
The London to Singapore flight carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew was pressured to make an emergency touchdown in Bangkok, the place at the least 48 persons are nonetheless being handled in hospital.
Flight monitoring knowledge exhibits the Boeing 777-300ER plunged 1,800 metres (6,000 toes) in only a few minutes, with passengers saying it occurred so abruptly there was no time for a lot of to lock their seatbelts.
In response, Singapore Airlines mentioned it has launched a “extra cautious strategy” to turbulence.
“Along with the suspension of sizzling beverage service when the seat belt signal is on, the meal service may also be suspended,” the provider mentioned in an announcement to AFP.
“SIA will proceed to evaluation our processes as the protection of our passengers and crew is of utmost significance.”
Investigators from Singapore and the US have travelled to Thailand to probe the causes of Tuesday’s lethal incident.
However air security consultants have informed AFP that passengers are sometimes too informal about carrying seatbelts, leaving them in danger if the aircraft hits sudden turbulence. Scientists additionally warn that so-called clear air turbulence, which is invisible to radar, is getting worse due to local weather change. The director of Bangkok’s Samitivej Srinakarin hospital, the place many of the injured have been handled, mentioned his employees had by no means handled such extreme accidents brought on by turbulence.
Australian passenger Keith Davis described the ordeal, which left his spouse Kerry with a extreme spinal harm and no feeling under the waist.
“It was absolute carnage, immediately. It was completely surreal. , there is no warning,” he informed Australian broadcaster Channel 9.
“Earlier than we knew it we have been on the ceiling. After which bang, we’re on the bottom. And you do not know what’s going on. And you have actually fallen 6,000 toes (1,829 metres).”
Davis mentioned his spouse hit the doorways of the overhead baggage lockers earlier than falling to the ground of the aisle, and was unable to maneuver for the remainder of the flight.
On touchdown at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, the aircraft was met by emergency responders who used gurneys to ferry the injured to ambulances ready on the tarmac.
Pictures taken contained in the aircraft after it landed in Bangkok present the cabin in chaos, strewn with meals, drinks and baggage, and with oxygen masks dangling from the ceiling.
Singapore Airways chief govt Goh Choon Phong has apologised for the “traumatic expertise” and expressed condolences to the household of the deceased — a 73-year-old British man.