Crisis occurred on an SIA operated flight flying from the United Kingdom to Singapore whereby turbulence claimed the lives of a passenger and over seventy-one others. The Boeing 777-300ER aircrafts accommodating 211 passengers and 18 crew members were forced to change their course and head to Bangkok because of the conflict in the air.
Regrettably, the turbulence was a factor that contributed to the demise of the 73 year old British citizen as confirmed by the General Manager of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Kittipong Kittikachorn. The emergency landing occurred at 3:about 9 p. m. local time on Tuesday, and Kittikachorn said he only learnt of the situation 10 minutes before the plane landed.
It is reported that some of the common hurts sustained by the passengers included cuts and bruises, and others, broken arms. The worst affected were evacuated to Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital while the others who were stabilised were treated within the airport clinic. Singapore Airlines’s initial report regarding the occurrence stated that 30 people required medical attention.
Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam expressed his condolences to the family members of the deceased and stated that all the Singaporean authorities and the airline are behind all the victims. Similarly Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat also condolences and at the same time confirmed several governmental organizations are helping the passengers.
Apart from the catastrophe, the disturbance also caused a relatively severe internal damage of the plane, including the parts of the ceiling and baggage compartments. Some of the tapes showed overhead compartments opened with dangling oxygen masks, therefore giving an indication of the disaster.
The hospital that was treating the injured was able to attend to six severe cases and other accounts revealed that seven passengers were in critical condition. This occurred when people were eating their breakfast Destinities illustrate how such incidents can occur at any time.
At the moment, the Ministry of Transport of Singapore pays attention to the problem and discusses with the Thai side how it happened. Turbulence is further characterized by the difference in the speed of air currents; by the experience narrated above, one can deduce that turbulence is dangerous.
The sad development of incidents where many people died and many others got injured has created lot of concerns regarding the dangers of severe turbulence. Obviously such cases are rather limited, still the consequences are catastrophic as far as the flight mentioned above was concerned.
