“We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing 777-300ER. There were a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew members”the airline said on Facebook.
Kittipong Kittikachorn, director of Suvarnabhumi Airport, said the passenger who died was a 73-year-old British man.
He added that most of the injured suffered from head impacts and seven of them were in critical condition.
Of the passengers, 56 were Australian, 47 British and 41 Singaporean, the airline said.
A total of thirty passengers and crew members suffered injuries in the incident, Singapore Airlines and the airport reported.
Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital in Bangkok said a total of 71 people had been treated, including six seriously injured.
“We sincerely apologize for the traumatic experience experienced by our passengers and crew members on this flight. We are providing all necessary assistance during this difficult time,” assured the airline.
This is the latest incident involving a Boeing, following the explosion of a fuselage panel of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX in January, as well as two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
It came at a time when parts of Thailand were experiencing thunderstorms at the very beginning of the rainy season.
Singapore sends investigators
“At 3:35 p.m. (08:35 GMT), the airport received a distress call from the Singapore Airlines flight indicating that there were passengers on board injured by the turbulence and requesting an emergency landing,” Suvarnabhumi Airport told in a statement.
At 3:45 p.m. local time (08:45 GMT), the Boeing 777 landed on the runway and ambulances rushed towards it with sirens blaring and flashing lights.
Scientists say climate change is likely to cause more turbulence, invisible to radar.
According to a study carried out in 2023, the annual duration of turbulence increased by 17% between 1979 and 2020 and severe turbulence, which is rarer, by more than 50%.
The Prime Minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong, sent his “deepest condolences” to the victims and their families and assured on Facebook that his country was “working closely with the Thai authorities”.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one and our thoughts are with the passengers and crew,” Boeing reacted on the social network X, saying it was “ready to support” Singapore Airlines.
The American aviation giant is rocked by multiple crises linked to production and quality control problems, which led to the departure of its CEO Dave Calhoun.
By May 28, Boeing must submit to the American aviation regulator, the FAA – which has frozen production of the 737 MAX indefinitely – a “comprehensive action plan” to remedy the numerous non-compliance problems. .
