A 73-year-old British passenger has died of a suspected heart attack, and 140 passengers and crew were injured after a Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI) flight experienced extreme turbulence and was forced to make an emergency landing in Thailand.
The planned flight from London to Singapore on a Boeing (BA.N) 777-300ER was diverted to Bangkok due to turbulence, which threw passengers and personnel about the cabin, smashing some into the ceiling.
"I saw people from across the aisle going completely horizontal, hitting the ceiling and landing back down in like really awkward positions. People, like, getting massive gashes in the head, concussions," Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student onboard the flight, told Reuters after arriving in Singapore.
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Photographs from the plane's interior revealed gashes in the overhead cabin panels, oxygen masks and panels hanging from the ceiling, and bags strewn around. A passenger said several people's heads had collided with the lights above the chairs, breaking the panels.
The rescue aircraft from Bangkok, operated by Singapore Airlines, had 131 passengers and 12 crew members and arrived in Singapore just before 5 a.m. The first flight had 211 passengers, many Australians, British, or Singaporeans, and 18 staff members; wounded travelers and their families remained in Bangkok.
"On behalf of Singapore Airlines, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased," Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong said in a video message.
Singapore's Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) is investigating the event, while the National Transportation Safety Board of the United States has dispatched personnel to assist.
According to Goh, the plane faced unexpected high turbulence, prompting the captain to declare a medical emergency and divert to Bangkok.
