The airline Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced changes to its safety policy on board its planes on Friday, after turbulence which left one person dead and around a hundred injured on one of its flights on Tuesday.
From now on, cabin crew will stop distributing meals and hot drinks as soon as the “fasten your seat belts” signal is on, the company said in a statement to AFP. Singapore Airlines “will continue to review its procedures as the safety of its passengers and crew is of the utmost importance,” it added.
The experience was terrifying for the 211 passengers and 18 crew members of flight SQ321 from London to Singapore, which was caught in extreme and sudden high-altitude turbulence. A 73-year-old British man died and 104 people were injured, 48 of whom are still hospitalized in Bangkok, where the Boeing 777 made an emergency landing after the crash. Many of those hospitalized suffered injuries to their skulls, brains and spines.
“It was absolute carnage, instantly. It was absolutely surreal. You know, there was no warning,” passenger Keith Davis told Australia’s Channel 9. “Before we knew it, we were at the ceiling. And then boom, we find ourselves on the ground. We don’t know what’s happening,” said the Australian, whose wife suffered serious spinal injuries after hitting the hand luggage compartment and falling to the ground.
Photos taken inside the plane after it landed in Bangkok show a topsy-turvy cabin, littered with food, drinks and luggage, with oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling.
Investigation underway to determine the circumstances of the accident
Singaporean investigators have begun analyzing flight data and cockpit recordings after turbulence which left one dead and around a hundred injured on Tuesday, the Singaporean Transport Minister announced on Friday.
“We have a team that went to Bangkok… and they are looking at the data to determine what happened,” Minister Chee Hong Tat said. American investigators were also dispatched to Thailand. Flight data shows the Boeing 777-300ER plunged 1,800 meters within minutes. Passengers said it was so sudden they didn’t have time to fasten their seat belts.
