Passenger killed and dozens injured by turbulence on London to Singapore flight

At least one person has died and dozens of others have been injured after a flight from London to Singapore encountered severe turbulence.

A Singapore Airlines flight was forced to divert to Bangkok after a passenger was killed and 30 people were hurt, local media reported.

“We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing 777-300ER. There were a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew on board,” a spokesperson for the airline said.

“Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased.”

Flight SQ321 took off from London Heathrow Airport on Monday evening at 22.17 local time, flight tracking data showed.

The airliner diverted to Thailand around an hour and a half’s flying time from its intended destination of Singapore after reportedly encountering heavy turbulence.

The pilots requested permission to make an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok and touched down shortly after 4pm local time.

“Suddenly the aircraft starts tilting up and there was shaking so I started bracing for what was happening, and very suddenly there was a very dramatic drop so everyone seated and not wearing seatbelt was launched immediately into the ceiling,” Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student on board the flight told Reuters.

“Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it, they hit the places where lights and masks are and broke straight through it,” he said.

It was not immediately clear at what point of the flight the fatal injury occurred.

Several ambulances were seen on the tarmac preparing to treat passengers as they disembarked.

Pictures from local news agencies showed what appeared to be food trays from the in-flight meal service scattered across the airliner’s floor.

“We are working with the local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary medical assistance, and sending a team to Bangkok to provide any additional assistance needed,” the airline said.

Singapore Airlines is yet to comment on what caused the turbulence, but the area around Thailand is currently suffering severe tropical storms.

Current aviation weather reports indicate thunderstorms reaching up to 51,000ft are spread across western Thailand and well down into the Gulf of Thailand, a distance of around 475 miles.

Last week, a British Airways flight was forced to return to Singapore after encountering heavy turbulence.

One crew member reportedly needed surgery to her ankle after she was injured during the flight.

The Singapore Airlines flight was cruising at 37,000ft before its diversion, according to Flight Radar 24 data.

Other high altitude weather phenomena such as clear air turbulence have been known to cause unexpected problems for airliner flights in the past.

The last Singapore Airlines fatalities were in October 2000 when a plane crashed on a closed runway during takeoff at Taiwan and 83 people died.

Singapore Airlines has had seven accidents according to records by the Aviation Safety Network.