Passengers onboard a Singapore Airlines aircraft that encountered “severe turbulence” described the “sheer terror” during the critical moments when the Boeing jet was left “shuddering.”
The aircraft, which had 211 passengers and 18 crew onboard, was heading from London to Singapore when it encountered “severe turbulence,” which left one passenger dead and 104 passengers needing medical attention.
Ali Bukhari, who was a passenger on the flight and was returning for his honeymoon with his bride, said that the severe turbulence was “traumatic.”
“It was a very traumatic experience, it’s hard to describe in words — no one expects that really,” he told Australia’s TV Channel 9.
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Passenger Beverley Mayers described the “sheer terror” as Singapore Airlines Flight SQ321 plunged nearly 6,000-foot descent in about three minutes.
“The whole plane was shuddering … great pieces were falling off and dropping on the floor, people getting hit in the head,” she told Australia’s TV Channel 9 on arrival at Sydney airport.
Mayers said that she thought that the plane was going to split in half.
I think we all thought the plane was going to fall apart.
“I think we all thought the plane was going to fall apart, I thought it was going to go in halves here,” she told the Australian outlet. “When they got us off the plane, there were a few of the staff who’d been injured — there’d been broken crockery — their faces were really covered in blood. It was awful.”
Josh Silverstone, 24, told the Associated Press that it could have been “way worse,” sharing that when the plane safely touched down he could not stop vomiting.
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I arrived back in the airport and I couldn’t stop vomiting.
“I arrived back in the airport and I couldn’t stop vomiting,” he said. “I couldn’t walk, it was pretty bad.”
Weather forecasting service AccuWeather said satellite and lightning data showed “explosive thunderstorms” developing close to the flight path.
Developing thunderstorms can leave pilots with little time to react, the weather service said.
SINGAPORE AIRLINES PASSENGER DEAD AFTER BOEING JET HITS ‘SEVERE TURBULENCE’
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Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA representing over 50,000 at 20 airlines, told Reuters that initial reports seemed to indicate clear-air turbulence.
Clear-air turbulence cannot be seen and is virtually undetectable with current technology, making it all the more important for passengers to wear seatbelts whenever seated, Nelson told Reuters.
“It is a matter of life and death,” Nelson said.
Singapore Airlines said Wednesday that 74 passengers and six crew members remain in Bangkok, which includes “those receiving medical care, as well as their family members and loved ones who were on the flight.” The rest have made it to Singapore after getting onto another plane.
“On behalf of the Singapore Airlines Board, I extend my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of our passenger who passed away on 21 May 2024 in the SQ321 incident,” Singapore Airlines Chairman Peter Seah said. “I assure all passengers and crew members who were on board the aircraft that we are committed to supporting them during this difficult time.”
A hospital where the injured have been taken in Bangkok told The Associated Press on Wednesday that 20 people from the flight are being treated in its intensive care unit, while 104 overall have received medical care.
The last fatal accident involving a Singapore Airlines plane was in 2000, when 83 died in Singapore after an aircraft crashed shortly following takeoff, the Aviation Safety Network says.
Singapore Airlines did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and Reuters contributed to this report.
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