A Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER was hit by 'severe turbulence' on a London to Singapore flight on Tuesday, forcing an emergency diversion to Bangkok. Tragically, one passenger has been confirmed dead. This incident raises fresh concerns about the safety of air travel of Boeing jets amid a series of mid-air mishaps.
Aviation sleuths on X are citing website flight tracking data from Flightradar24, which shows that Flight SQ 321 abruptly dropped 6,000 feet 'due to an air pocket', but nothing has been confirmed.
Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 dropped about 6000 feet due to an air pocket. One person dead. Must have been incredibly scary pic.twitter.com/NDWnWxMuLF
— USA Observer (@TheUSAmonitor) May 21, 2024
Flight tracking data suggests that #SQ321 had a steep drop of 6,000 feet within 4 minutes from 37,000 ft altitude (see lines 4.06 am to 4.11am) before stabilizing to 31,000 ft, leading to its emergency landing at BKK. https://t.co/Km611aNp1d pic.twitter.com/ng1R0di6T0
— Saksith Saiyasombut (@SaksithCNA) May 21, 2024
Here's an image inside the plane moments after the incident.
Just in :
— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) May 21, 2024
- Singapore Airlines flight #SQ321 on @Boeing 777 from London @HeathrowAirport to Singapore on 20th May, encountered severe turbulence
- Diverted to Bangkok
- But one dead and multiple injuries per @SingaporeAir.
✈️ 🙏 pic.twitter.com/82fk23usOI
The plane has since landed and emergency crews were dispatched to rush the injured to local area hospitals.
Breaking: Singapore Airlines flight diverted to Bangkok due to turbulence. 20 passengers reportedly injured. #SQ321 pic.twitter.com/kXXcJOfNyh
— Tommy Shelby (@T0M5helby) May 21, 2024
A #SingaporeAirlines Boeing B777-300ER operating flight SQ321 from #London to #Singapore encountered severe #turbulence.
— IH Aviation and Travel (@ihaviation) May 21, 2024
As per reports, many passengers are injured. The aircraft diverted to #Bangkok. There were 211 passengers and 18 crew members onboard.
📸: @fl360aero pic.twitter.com/O0I1F2ZmrN
Ambulances heading to Suvarnabhumi Airport to assist and transport those injured on board Singapore Airlines flight SQ 321 from London shortly after 4pm Tuesday. #Thailand #singaporeairlines #SQ321 #Suvarnabhumihttps://t.co/NVhgaBMrrY
— Khaosod English (@KhaosodEnglish) May 21, 2024
"We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing 777-300ER," Singapore Airlines wrote in a statement published on Facebook, adding there were a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew on board.
"Singapore Airlines flight #SQ321, operating from London (Heathrow) to Singapore on 20 May 2024, encountered severe turbulence en-route. The aircraft diverted to Bangkok and landed at 1545hrs local time on 21 May 2024," the airlines added.
