One Person Dies, Dozens Are Injured After International Flight Hits Severe Turbulence

A Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300 ran into severe turbulence on its flight from London to Singapore on Tuesday, resulting in one death and at least 30 injuries.

Flight SQ 321 was diverted to Bangkok after hitting turbulence and landed at 3:45 p.m. local time, the BBC reported. There were 211 passengers and 18 crew aboard the aircraft. It remains unclear if the person who died was a passenger or part of the crew. Airline tracking data showed that Flight SQ 321 dropped around 6,000 feet after hitting an air pocket, according to The Guardian.

The airline confirmed the incident in a statement posted to social media.

“Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased,” the airline said.

“Our priority is to provide all possible assistance to all passengers and crew on board the aircraft,” the airline added. “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.”

Singapore Airlines didn’t specify how many people had been injured in the incident, but multiple outlets have reported that 30 people were hurt.

Thai authorities and first responders were on the scene after the Singapore Airlines plane landed at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.

Turbulence occurs when an aircraft is hit with “an irregular motion of the air resulting from eddies and vertical currents,” according to the National Weather Service. Turbulence is common for all commercial flights and can happen anywhere regardless of weather conditions, but it can be “associated with fronts, wind shear, thunderstorms, etc.,” NWS says.

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“Severe” is the second most intense form of turbulence an aircraft can encounter. It results in “large, abrupt changes in altitude and/or attitude,” which can also cause the aircraft to “be momentarily out of control.” Only “Extreme” turbulence is worse and results in an aircraft being “violently tossed about and practically impossible to control.”