Airline introduces strict new rules for passengers following fatal accident
AN airline had brought in strict new rules for passengers after a fatal accident during a flight.
Singapore Airlines has altered its in-flight seatbelt sign policies and altered at least one flight route after a Brit was killed and dozens hospitalised after a turbulence incident earlier this week.
The leading airline has now taken a more cautious approach to turbulence, including not serving hot drinks or meals when the seatbelt sign is on.
Singapore Airlines said in a statement: “SIA will continue to review our processes, as the safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost importance.”
On Tuesday, the London to Singapore flight SQ321, on a Boeing 777-300ER plane with 211 passengers and 18 crew on board was diverted to Bangkok to make an emergency landing after the plane was hit by turbulence.
Terrified passengers and crew were flung about the cabin, with some being slammed into the ceiling.
Brit granddad Geoff Kitchen, 73, died of a suspected heart attack as dozens of other passengers suffered injuries including broken bones.
One passenger, 28-year-old student Dzafran Azmir, said the plane began “tilting up” and shaking before there was a “dramatic” drop and those not wearing a seatbelt were “launched immediately into the ceiling”.
The airline also appears to have altered the flight path for SQ321 with tracking data showing it has not flown over the part of Myanmar where the sudden turbulence occurred about three hours before its scheduled landing.
Instead, the flights now fly over the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, according to date from flight tracker FlightRadar 24.
Horror photos from inside the plane show the chaos caused by the turbulence with overhead cabin panels, and oxygen masks dangling from the ceiling and luggage strewn around the cabin floor.
Passengers have reported people’s heads had been slammed into the lights above the seats and broken panels.
As of May 25, 43 passengers and two crew members were still hospitalised in Bangkok with 19 others still in Bangkok, according to the airline.
The 43 patients are in three different hospitals in Bangkok, Samitivej Srinakarin hospital said in a statement.
At Samitivej Srinakarin hospital, where 34 of the patients are, seven are in intensive care – three Australians, two Malaysians, one British and one New Zealander, the statement said.
The other 27 patients from the flight at the hospital include eight British, six Australian, five Malaysian, and two Philippine citizens, the statement said.
The official added the injured had a mix of spinal cord, brain and skull injuries.
Doctors fear some of the passengers on the nightmare flight will never walk again.
Flight SQ321, carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew on board, including 47 Brits, took off from London Heathrow just after 10 pm on Monday May 20.
The packed aircraft was smashed by unexpected “severe turbulence” as flyers were tucking into breakfast, some 11 hours into the 13-hour flight to Singapore, officials said.
The mid-air tragedy saw the death of a British granddad, 73, and injured many more as the plane plunged 7,000ft in a six minute death drop.
One panicked stewardess was even seen with blood pouring from her nose as onlooker Andrew Davies said another stricken woman was “screaming and absolutely covered in blood”.
Weather experts have claimed one of the causes of the terrifying ordeal was “explosive storms”.
An unnamed pilot said thunderstorms in the Bay of Bengal are reasonably common as they claim to have been forced to fly away from a similar patch just 48-hours earlier.
Passenger accounts are still emerging but one man shared an emotional message he sent to his loved ones thinking it could be his final words.
Josh Barker’s text read: “I don’t want to scare you, but I’m on a crazy flight. The plane is making an emergency landing… I love you all.”
Mum Allison Barker described the agonising hours of waiting after that followed the chilling message from her son at 9.10am on Tuesday.
Another shaken up passenger described people being thrown around the cabin so violently they put dents in the ceiling during the ordeal.
Singapore Airlines chief executive Goh Choon Phong has apologised for the “traumatic experience” and expressed condolences to the family of the deceased.
A relief flight took 131 passengers and 12 crew to Singapore’s Changi Airport on Wednesday to continue their journeys or return home.