Singapore Airlines in-flight live: British man named Jeffrey Kitchen promises 'thorough' investigation

Singapore's prime minister has promised a “thorough investigation” into the death of a British passenger named Geoffrey Kitchen who was caught in turbulence on a Singapore Airlines flight.

“I hope and pray that the injured people will recover quickly and be able to return home,” Lawrence Wong said.

Aviation consultant John Strickland told the PA news agency that “turbulence does happen” but despite millions of flights a year, accidents are “limited” and “fatalities are rare”. he said.

He said: “The exposure will be greater in different parts of the world.”

“The South Atlantic, Africa and the Bay of Bengal are the first places that come to mind as places with higher incidence.

“There is debate as to whether climate change is contributing to the increase in cases.”

Strickland said airlines use a variety of methods to minimize the chance that flights will be affected by turbulence, including weather forecasts, radar and reports from aircraft ahead.

A Singapore Airlines passenger who attended his son's wedding said it was “the worst day of my life”.

Jerry, who was identified by his first name, said with a bandage covering part of his head. I just went to the bathroom, came back and sat down, and there was a bit of turbulence and suddenly the plane nosedived.

“I don't know how long it was, but it was a long time. It was so sudden and without warning that I hit my head on the ceiling, and so did my wife.

“Some of the poor people who were walking around ended up doing somersaults. It was really bad, but then it suddenly stopped and it was calm again and the staff did their best to treat the injured. .

“They did a great job despite having a lot of them and some of our staff members being injured.”

“We deeply regret the traumatic experience that all passengers on flight SQ321 went through,” Goh Trung Fung said in a video shared by the airline on social media.

Mr Fong expressed his condolences to the family of the British passenger who died on the plane, now identified as 73-year-old Geoffrey Kitchen. Mr Kitchen was on a planned tour of Asia with his wife, and one family member said it was their “last big vacation together”.

Tributes have been paid to a 73-year-old British man who died during severe turbulence on board a Singapore Airlines flight departing from Heathrow Airport.

A spokesperson for Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, where the plane was diverted, said the passenger, named Jeff Kitchen, suffered a suspected heart attack on board.

Seven other people were seriously injured and dozens more suffered minor injuries, it added.

Turbulence-related aviation accidents are the most common, according to a 2021 study by the National Transportation Safety Board.

U.S. officials found that between 2009 and 2018, turbulence accounted for more than a third of reported aviation accidents, most of which resulted in at least one serious injury but no damage to the aircraft. The NTSB said it was sending a representative to assist Singapore in its investigation of the incidents.

Widely recognized as one of the world's leading airlines and a benchmark for many in the aviation industry, Singapore Airlines has been free of major accidents in recent years.

The last fatal accident occurred on October 31, 2000, when a flight from Singapore to Los Angeles via Taipei attempted to take off from the wrong runway and collided with construction equipment at Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport. The accident killed 83 of the 179 passengers and crew.

According to Aviation Safety Network records, Singapore Airlines has been involved in seven accidents.

Boeing said it was in contact with Singapore Airlines and stood ready to offer assistance, and referred further questions to the airline and local authorities.

Four Irish nationals were on board the Singapore Airlines flight from London, and one person was killed and many others injured when the plane encountered severe turbulence.

The Foreign Office confirmed there were four Irish nationals on board the flight, but it is not yet known whether they were among the injured.

A ministry spokesperson said: “We are aware that there were four Irish nationals on board.''

British passengers have described a carnage on board a Singapore flight that plummeted due to turbulence, leaving one person dead and dozens injured.

The Boeing 777-300ER was en route from Heathrow Airport to Singapore with 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board when it made an emergency landing in Bangkok, the airline said in a statement.

The general manager of Bangkok Airport told a press conference on Wednesday that seven of the 30 people injured during the flight were seriously injured.

Even experienced fliers can sometimes be frightened by in-flight shock and shaking, but in reality, most cases are not as serious as shaking the in-flight meal.