A 73-year-old British man died on Tuesday (May 21) after a Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 he was on encountered severe turbulence.
Seven people on board were critically injured, said a senior Thai airport official.
A man from Bristol United Kingdom who was having the "holiday of a lifetime" with his wife died during severe turbulence while on a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore. Geoffrey Ralph Kitchen, a 73-year-old from Thornbury, tragically died during aircraft turbulence which is believed to have led to him having a heart attack.
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Geoff and his wife Linda - who is in hospital it is believed - were en route to Singapore for the initial part of their six-week "holiday of a lifetime" which included South East Asia and Australia destinations. It is understood Geoff had suffered heart problems in recent years.
This flight, which was operated by a 16 year old Boeing 777 jet, initially departed at 10.17pm on Monday, finding itself diverted to Bangkok where it made a landing at 3.45pm local time (9.45am BST) on Tuesday. Onboard were 211 passengers and 18 dedicated crew members, 47 of whom were passengers originating from the UK, reports the Mirror.
The airline confirmed that their flight came across "sudden extreme turbulence" over Myanmar's Irrawaddy Basin at the extraordinary height of 37,000 feet about 10 hours after taking off. Amid the chaos, the pilot declared a medical emergency and rerouted the flight to Bangkok for immediate action.
Flight tracking data had indicated that the plane experienced a 6,000-foot drop from 37,000 feet within four minutes.
The plane, bound for Singapore, had to make an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. Geoffrey is believed to have been hurled from side-to-side when the plane was struck by treacherous conditions, and died at the scene, while there were around 30 people who were also injured in the incident and around six people also remain in a critical condition in hospital.
Singapore Airlines said: “Singapore Airlines flight SQ321, operating from London Heathrow to Singapore on May 20, encountered severe turbulence en-route. We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board. Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased.”
In an update published on social media on Tuesday afternoon, Singapore Airlines said: “The nationalities of the passengers are as follows: SIA has provided a breakdown of the nationalities of the passengers on board SQ321:
6 from Australia, 2 from Canada, 1 from Germany, 3 from India, 2 from Indonesia, 1 from Iceland, 4 from Ireland, 1 from Israel, 16 from Malaysia, 2 from Myanmar, 23 from New Zealand, 5 from the Philippines, 41 from Singapore, 1 from South Korea, 2 from Spain, 47 from the United Kingdom, and 4 from the United States.
