One Dead, Dozens Injured After Flight Hits Severe Turbulence

At least 31 people were hospitalized and one person was killed after a Singapore Airlines flight traveling from London to Singapore hit extreme turbulence, causing the aircraft to drop 6,000 feet in just minutes.

Flight SQ 321 was only about 90 minutes from its destination, about 10 hours into the flight, when the incident occurred after crossing over the Bay of Bengal. The flight was instead diverted to Bangkok, Thailand, where it made an emergency landing and passengers were treated for their injuries. 

According to FlightAware data, the Boeing 777-300ER went from a cruising altitude of 37,000 feet to 31,000 feet in just five minutes. In one sudden drop, it fell nearly 700 feet from the sky.

The airline confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that there were injuries and one fatality on board the craft, which had 211 passengers and 18 crew on board.

"Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased," the statement posted to Facebook read. "Our priority is to provide all possible assistance to all passengers and crew on board the aircraft. 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."

It's still unclear exactly what caused the mid-air drop. However, one passenger, 28-year-old student Dzafran Azmir, described the terrifying incident to Reuters news agency.

"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," Azmir said. "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."

This is at least the second incident of an aircraft experiencing a sudden drop in altitude in less than three months. Back in March, over 50 people were injured and about a dozen hospitalized after a LATAM Airlines flight from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand experienced a "technical event" that caused passengers to go flying all about the cabin.

As the BBC points out, research has suggested that severe turbulence will become more likely in the future due to climate change.