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One dead after severe turbulence on London-Singapore flight
One dead after severe turbulence on London-Singapore flight
(France 2)
One person died and 30 passengers were injured on a plane that passed through an area of severe turbulence. The aircraft, a Boeing 777 departing from London, was due to land in Singapore. He was redirected to Bangkok.
On stretchers, dozens of injured people were evacuated from the plane one by one. The plane made an emergency landing at Bangkok airport. Once the approximately 200 passengers disembarked, the state of the cabin attests to the violence of the turbulence: blood stains, ripped ceiling, oxygen masks and on the ground, the body of a deceased man. He is a 73-year-old British man. Authorities suspect a heart attack.
The passengers are still shocked. “The plane suddenly fell, it was unreal. What I remember are the objects, people’s luggage, the cushions, the cups, the plates flying through the air. And this poor old lady covered in blood, with a horrible gash on her head.”, confides one of them, Andrew Davies. The plane, which left London (United Kingdom) on the evening of Monday May 20, was to connect Singapore. Flight data indicates it encountered an air gap off the coast of Thailand, before falling 1,800 meters in just five minutes.
He was urgently diverted to Bangkok airport (Thailand). “Seven passengers suffered critical injuries, there were also 23 cases of moderate injuries including a flight attendant”, as well as 25 other slightly injured passengers, details Kittipong Kittikachor, the airport director. The Singapore Airlines company, which operated the flight, offered its apologies to the travelers and its condolences to the family of the deceased passenger. The Singapore Ministry of Transport announced that it would send investigators to Bangkok to determine the exact circumstances of the tragedy.
