One person was killed and 30 injured on Tuesday when a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 suffered severe turbulence on a flight from London and was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok.
Emergency vehicles arrived on the tarmac at the Thai capital’s main airport with lights on and sirens sounding after the flight SQ321 bound for Singapore will land at 3:45 pm (0845 GMT).
It is the latest drama involving a Boeing airplaneafter a fuselage panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX exploded in January, as well as two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Singapore Airlines He said the flight took off from London’s Heathrow airport and “encountered severe turbulence en route.”
“We can confirm that there are injuries and one death on board the Boeing 777-300ER. “There were a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board,” the airline said in a statement.
The company stated that “18 people have been hospitalized. Another 12 are being treated in hospitals,” without giving details about the nature and severity of the injuries.
“We deeply apologize for the traumatic experience our passengers and crew members suffered on this flight. “We are providing all necessary assistance during this difficult time,” the airline said.
Flight tracking data suggested that the plane fell more than 1,800 meters (6,000 feet) in just five minutes over the Andaman Sea.
The incident came as parts of Thailand were hit by thunderstorms as the country’s annual rainy season begins.
“At 3:35 p.m., the airport received a distress call from the Singapore Airlines flight saying there were passengers on board injured due to turbulence and requesting an emergency landing,” Suvarnabhumi Airport said in a statement.
“The plane landed at the airport and a medical team was sent to treat all the injured”.
The airport statement described the dead passenger as a foreigner, meaning not Thai.
Singapore Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said in a Facebook post that he was “deeply saddened” by the incident and offered his condolences to the family of the deceased.
US aviation giant Boeing has been rocked by a series of problems in recent years and in March announced the departure of its chief executive, Dave Calhoun, as it faces intense scrutiny over safety and manufacturing standards.
The change in leadership came in the wake of the near-catastrophic incident in January when a fuselage panel on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 exploded in mid-flight.
Fatal crashes in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019, which killed 346 people in total, led to a prolonged grounding of the 737 MAX fleet around the world.
The company has until the end of May to submit a plan required by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which has limited MAX production until the company shows progress in safety and quality control.
In July, the US Department of Justice will make a final decision on whether Boeing should be criminally prosecuted.
And in September, the company faces a possible strike by 30,000 workers if it can’t reach a contract with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
(With information from AFP)
