3 Indians were aboard Singapore Airlines flight hit by ‘extreme turbulence’

Three Indians were aboard the Singapore Airlines flight that was hit by “extreme turbulence”, forcing the aircraft to make emergency landing in Bangkok on Tuesday. A British man, 73, died on the flight, with the airport authorities in Bangkok saying that the cause of death was “likely” a heart attack.

The latest update provided by Singapore Airlines mentions that there were a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew onboard the flight.

“The nationalities of the passengers are as follows: 56 from Australia, 2 from Canada, 1 from Germany, 3 from India, 2 from Indonesia, 1 from Iceland, 4 from Ireland, 1 from Israel, 16 from Malaysia, 2 from Myanmar, 23 from New Zealand, 5 from the Philippines, 41 from Singapore, 1 from South Korea, 2 from Spain, 47 from the United Kingdom, and 4 from the United States of America,” it said.

The British man who died in the incident was accompanied by his wife, who has also been hospitalised, as per a report by the BBC.

Passengers onboard the flight spoke of a “dramatic drop” that launched those not wearing seatbelts into the cabin ceiling.

Photographs from the interior of the plane showed dented overhead bins, gas masks and panels hanging from the ceiling and food items and personal belonging strewn around.

Here’s what we know about the incident:

• Singapore Airlines (SIA) said that flight SQ321, operating from London (Heathrow) to Singapore on May 20, encountered sudden extreme turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin at 37,000 feet about 10 hours after departure.
• The pilot then declared a medical emergency and diverted the aircraft to Bangkok, and landed at 3:45 pm local time on May 21.
• One person died and 30 were injured, Singapore Airlines said.
• With regard to data showing a drop in height, the spokesperson for FlightRadar 24 was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters: “Our initial thinking is the turbulence event is prior to the standard descent from 37,000 to 31,000 feet. That appears to just be a flight level change in preparation for landing.”

Meanwhile, Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) will be investigating the incident.