There was a frightful event where a plane with flight number SQ 317, originally had onboard passengers traveling from London to Singapore visiting the South Pacific, faced turbulence, which killed one person and hospitalized more than 30 people.
The tragic incident happened when the particular Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which was on the SQ321 flight, was at 37000 feet during the flight and moving above the Irrawaddy Basin. Unfortunately, the aircraft came across a violent and unexpected air pocket.
The pilot promptly declared a medical emergency and diverted the plane to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, where it landed safely at 3:7:45 pm local time on May 21st. Most of the passengers’ photographs and videos taken inside the aircraft indicated damaged overhead bins, foods, and other necessities strewn on the entire cabin, and oxygen masks still hanging from the roof as they moved up and down vigorously.
While trapped in the airplane’s overhead compartments, a 73-year-old British man is reported to have suffered a presumed heart attack. Some others fell by the head and face; 18 people went to the hospital, while 12 others were treated.
One of the passengers stated, I have never had a bumpy flight before that I was not wearing a seatbelt and I felt that I was launched into the ceiling.
The Transport Safety Investigation Bureau in Singapore has opened more investigations as the aviation community tries to understand the impact of the sudden and severe turbulence mentioned above.
