One dead, dozens injured as Singapore-bound flight hits turbulence

BANGKOK, Thailand — A 73-year-old British man died and more than 70 people were injured Tuesday in what passengers described as a terrifying scene aboard a Singapore Airlines flight that hit severe turbulence, triggering an emergency landing in Bangkok.

An initial data analysis by the aviation tracking service Flightradar24 suggested the London-Singapore flight experienced more than one minute of extreme turbulence at around 11,300 metres (37,000 feet) over Myanmar, during which it violently rose and plunged several times.

Flight SQ321 had taken off from London's Heathrow airport and "encountered sudden extreme turbulence" over Myanmar's Irrawaddy Basin, according to Singapore Airlines.

The aircraft later affected a sharp, controlled descent and diverted to Bangkok.

Andrew Davies, a British passenger aboard the Boeing 777-300ER, told BBC Radio 5 that the plane "suddenly dropped" and there was "very little warning".

"During the few seconds of the plane dropping, there was an awful screaming and what sounded like a thud," he said, adding that he helped a woman who was "screaming in agony" with a "gash on her head".

He described seeing people with head lacerations and bleeding ears: "I was covered in coffee. It was incredibly severe turbulence".

Most of the injured passengers on the flight suffered blows to the head, said the director of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, Kittipong Kittikachorn, who confirmed the age and nationality of the deceased man.

Emergency vehicles raced onto the tarmac at the Thai capital's main airport with lights flashing and sirens blaring after the plane touched down at 3:45 pm (0845 GMT).

"At 3:35 pm the airport received a distress call from the Singapore Airlines flight saying there were passengers on board injured by turbulence, and requesting an emergency landing," Suvarnabhumi Airport said in a statement.

"The plane landed at the airport and the medical team was sent to treat all the injured."

A large number of those aboard the plane -- 131 passengers and 12 crew members -- finally arrived in Singapore on a relief flight just after 5:00 am Wednesday, the airline said.

Another 79 passengers and six crew members remained in Bangkok,