1 passenger dead, 71 injured after 'extreme turbulence' on Singapore Airlines flight
May 21 (UPI) -- A British passenger flying Singapore Airlines died and 71 more were injured when a flight from London encountered severe turbulence Tuesday.
Singapore Airlines said the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members hit "sudden extreme turbulence" at 37,000 feet in the air 10 hours into the trip from London's Heathrow Airport to Singapore.
"The pilot declared a medical emergency and diverted the aircraft to Bangkok," the airline said. It landed at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday local time.
The airline earlier reported 30 passengers and crew were injured but updated the number of injured to 71.
Officials said 18 people were hospitalized, 12 were being treated and remaining passengers and crew members were being examined and given treatment "where necessary" at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok.
At least seven of the injured were listed in critical condition.
Officials in Bangkok said the 73-year-old British man likely died of a heart attack.
Kittipong Kittikachorn, director of Suvarnabhumi Airport, told reporters the man who died was traveling with his wife and had a heart condition.
The victim has been identified as Geoff Kitchen.
Joji Waites, head of flight safety for the British Airlines Pilots Association, said that while pilots are trained on how to anticipate potential turbulence, those are general rules and cannot pinpoint actual outcomes and live conditions.
"It is important, therefore, for aircraft occupants to have their seatbelts fastened while seated should any unexpected encounters occur and comply promptly with 'fasten seatbelt' signs when asked to do so," Waites said.
A relief flight with 143 passengers and crew of SQ321 who were able to travel arrived in Singapore shortly after 5 a.m. local time Wednesday, leaving 79 passengers and six crew in Bangkok, including those in need of medical care, the airline said.
Boeing said it was in contact with Singapore Airlines and was ready to offer support.
"We extend our deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one, and our thoughts are with the passengers and crew," it said in a statement.
Singapore's Transport Safety Investigation Bureau announced the launch of an investigation into the incident, with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board adding that it was sending an accredited representative and four technical advisors to Bangkok to support the probe.
Fifty-four of SQ321's passengers were Australian, 47 were Britons, 41 were Singaporeans, 23 were from new Zealand, five from the Philippines and four each from Ireland and the United States, the airline said, adding that three were from India and two each from Indonesia, Myanmar and Spain and one each from South Korea, Iceland and Israel.
