News Forum - Singapore Airlines emergency landing claims one life, injures 30

[Thaiger]

One passenger was tragically killed and 30 others were injured as a Singapore Airlines flight made an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok due to the severe weather. Thai PBS reported that the air traffic control team at Suvarnabhumi Airport received an emergency signal, squawk code 7700, from the Boeing 777-300ER at 4 … …

The story Singapore Airlines emergency landing claims one life, injures 30 as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Pinetree]

We don't yet know the details here, but I would bet a Kings Ransom that the passenger was not strapped in.  It is a known fact that far too many passengers do not take the seat belt advice seriously.  Asians are known to be particularly resistant to wearing the belts at all times while seated.  We will wait to see if this tragic event was because of that cause. 

[Mamachigawa]

Seatbelt cant help you when violently tossed about and overhead panels and trolleys are crushing you.

The pilots flew into a thunderstorm. Probably reading the Newspapers or looking at mobiles.

[rattlesnake]

Some footage from the plane once landed. This must have been absolutely terrifying.
 

 

[Grumpish]

33 minutes ago, Mamachigawa said:

Seatbelt cant help you when violently tossed about and overhead panels and trolleys are crushing you.

The pilots flew into a thunderstorm. Probably reading the Newspapers or looking at mobiles.

Seat belts can help a lot, just the same as they can in a car - I generally keep mine on but fastened very loose throughout the flight. And it is not always possible to avoid thunderstorms when they are widespread, as they would be in that area at this time of year with the southwest monsoon starting to make its presence felt.

[Marc26]

46 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

Some footage from the plane once landed. This must have been absolutely terrifying.
 

I flew back from Trat to BKK last week and we had the worst turbulence I have ever experienced, some people were lifted off their chairs and hit the overhead bins.....

People were screaming and crying......

 

We went through a pretty big thunderstorm and when landed they were announcing diversions away from BKK

 

So it was pretty bad but probably 20% of what this Sing flight was, so I couldn't imagine being on that!

[ChrisS]

R.I.P the dead passenger, fortunately turblance this severe is still very rare.

[rattlesnake]

More details, including on the victim, who died of a heart attack.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13443347/Pictured-British-musical-theatre-Singapore-Airlines-flight-UK-passengers-emotional-texts-sent-loved-ones-home-deadly-turbulence-revealed.html

[Mamachigawa]

9 hours ago, Grumpish said:

Seat belts can help a lot, just the same as they can in a car 

Better to be thrown free in car wreck. A-line safety thatre. Probably worse  if trapped by seatbelt in an evacuation. 

[CROUCHIE]

10 hours ago, Mamachigawa said:

Seatbelt cant help you when violently tossed about and overhead panels and trolleys are crushing you.

The pilots flew into a thunderstorm. Probably reading the Newspapers or looking at mobiles.

What an idiotic comment!

[Mamachigawa]

7 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

More details, including on the victim, who died of a heart attack.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13443347/Pictured-British-musical-theatre-Singapore-Airlines-flight-UK-passengers-emotional-texts-sent-loved-ones-home-deadly-turbulence-revealed.html

To be expected when having damaged heart muscles. Another victim of  vaccines.

[ChicagoExpat]

1 hour ago, Mamachigawa said:

To be expected when having damaged heart muscles. Another victim of  vaccines.

Actually, he refused the vaccine.

[Pinetree]

2 hours ago, Mamachigawa said:

Better to be thrown free in car wreck. A-line safety thatre. Probably worse  if trapped by seatbelt in an evacuation. 

That stupid idea doesn't work in an enclosed aircraft. nor indeed in a vehicle; 

[Manu]

13 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

Some footage from the plane once landed. This must have been absolutely terrifying.
 

Yeah, everyone's worst nightmare. I am sure everyone who flights regularly has a similar story to tell but this looks pretty wild.

Well I am definitely going to have my sealtbelt on at all time on my flight from BKK to London Tuesday next week!!

[Ramanathan.P]

 

13 hours ago, Mamachigawa said:

The pilots flew into a thunderstorm. Probably reading the Newspapers or looking at mobiles.

Well...as per one passanger, the seat belt sign did came out and within minutes the turbulence occured dropping in altitude. 

[Pinetree]

8 minutes ago, Ramanathan.P said:

Well...as per one passanger, the seat belt sign did came out and within minutes the turbulence occured dropping in altitude. 

Pilots get real time,  high altitude weather information from aircraft ahead of them, usually digitally through the communications system, but often verbally through ATC.  This crew may have been warned of CAT in that area, but in any event would have been aware that it is a phenomena experienced around Asia, at this time of year. 

[rattlesnake]

1 hour ago, Manu said:

Yeah, everyone's worst nightmare. I am sure everyone who flights regularly has a similar story to tell but this looks pretty wild.

Well I am definitely going to have my sealtbelt on at all time on my flight from BKK to London Tuesday next week!!

Ditto.

[rattlesnake]

43 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

Pilots get real time,  high altitude weather information from aircraft ahead of them, usually digitally through the communications system, but often verbally through ATC.  This crew may have been warned of CAT in that area, but in any event would have been aware that it is a phenomena experienced around Asia, at this time of year. 

There does seem to have been an avoidable mishap there. The reason why it usually never happens is that they are indeed able to anticipate these turbulent zones. The way the pilot suddenly dipped the plane may indicate a state of panic. It will be interesting to read the conclusions of the inquiry and find out what was going on in that cockpit.

[rattlesnake]

2 hours ago, ChicagoExpat said:

Actually, he refused the vaccine.

Can you point to a source for that claim? As a theatre director, he would not have been able to work without getting jabbed.

[Khunmark]

It’s time to review the seatbelt policy on aeroplanes. I have been on several flights where the captain has ordered a return to seats and fasten seatbelts. The vast majority of the announcements occurred when the degree of turbulence is barely noticeable. This pattern of protocols breeds complacency amongst passengers. The regulations that give you the option of removing your seatbelt in flight, should be abolished. 

[Fanta]

1 hour ago, Khunmark said:

The regulations that give you the option of removing your seatbelt in flight, should be abolished. 

“Jawohl, Mein Herr! Vot about ze catheters?”

Let’s not over react. The deceased had a bad ticker and it was a one in a million incident. 

[Pinetree]

3 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

There does seem to have been an avoidable mishap there. The reason why it usually never happens is that they are indeed able to anticipate these turbulent zones. The way the pilot suddenly dipped the plane may indicate a state of panic. It will be interesting to read the conclusions of the inquiry and find out what was going on in that cockpit.

Rubbish mate.  There is no way to predict CAT.  There would have been no panic on the Flight Deck and all airline pilots train for such eventualities  in the simulator.  They would have disconnected both APs, if they didn't auto disconnect and the Auto throttle, selected idle in both engines and allowed the aircraft to stabilize in a rapid decent to a thicker atmosphere were they could reconnect both AP and AT, as manual control at their reported cruise height is next to impossible.  It sounds to me that the crew did a very good job, in the decent, the stabilization phase and the divert. The turbulence was just bad luck and it can happen to any flight at any time.    

[rattlesnake]

18 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

Rubbish mate.  There is no way to predict CAT.  You are very ignorant in so many areas. There would have been no panic on the Flight Deck and all airline pilots train for such eventualities  in the simulator.  They would have disconnected both APs, if they didn't auto disconnect and the Auto throttle, selected idle in both engines and allowed the aircraft to stabilize in a rapid decent to a thicker atmosphere were they could reconnect both AP and AT, as manual control at their reported cruise height is next to impossible.  It sounds to me that the crew did a very good job, in the decent, the stabilization phase and the divert. The turbulence was just bad luck and it can happen to any flight at any time.    

I recommend trying to be less toxic in the way you engage with people.

As I said, it will be interesting to read the outcome of the inquiry on this incident. Here is a take from a relevant source:

What happened to flight SQ321?

Can turbulence be forecast?
Crews plan ahead by studying turbulence and other weather forecasts, which have improved over the years, loading extra fuel when needed and monitoring weather radar during flight.
[...]
Why was this so sudden?
Aviation expert Keith Tonkin told ABC News Breakfast that while turbulence can usually be forecast, it seems this was not expected.
"A lot of effort goes towards forecasting weather conditions all around the world and most of the time it is pretty accurate," he said.
"But it's not an absolute certainty that we know what is going to be encountered from time to time."
He said for some reason, the pilot did not expect the turbulence and they weren't prepared to get passengers to buckle up.
"There were people walking around and having their breakfast, and a lot of people seemingly didn't have their seatbelts on," he said.
He said an investigation would provide more clarity.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-22/what-is-aircraft-turbulence-and-how-common-is-it/103876998


 

Edited May 22 by rattlesnake

[Pinetree]

59 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

I recommend trying to be less toxic in the way you engage with people.

As I said, it will be interesting to read the outcome of the inquiry on this incident. Here is a take from a relevant source:

What happened to flight SQ321?

Can turbulence be forecast?
Crews plan ahead by studying turbulence and other weather forecasts, which have improved over the years, loading extra fuel when needed and monitoring weather radar during flight.
[...]
Why was this so sudden?
Aviation expert Keith Tonkin told ABC News Breakfast that while turbulence can usually be forecast, it seems this was not expected.
"A lot of effort goes towards forecasting weather conditions all around the world and most of the time it is pretty accurate," he said.
"But it's not an absolute certainty that we know what is going to be encountered from time to time."
He said for some reason, the pilot did not expect the turbulence and they weren't prepared to get passengers to buckle up.
"There were people walking around and having their breakfast, and a lot of people seemingly didn't have their seatbelts on," he said.
He said an investigation would provide more clarity.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-22/what-is-aircraft-turbulence-and-how-common-is-it/103876998


 

and I recommend that you don't keep preaching BS as fact,  on things you know nothing about 

[Pinetree]

Just now, Pinetree said:

and I recommend that you don't keep preaching BS as fact,  on things you know nothing about 

Keith Tonkin, whomever he may be,  sounds about as knowledgeable as you are apparently.  Sounds like a dick to me.  What is he saying then, in the absence of any prior knowledge of CAT, which cannot be predicted by anyone, food must never be served and toilet breaks are never to be  allowed.  Give me a break, what nonsense.  I have over 10,000 hours on the B777- 200 and 300 ER, on an Asian airline route network, so I know of what I speak. Speculation like this is not only unhelpful to future passengers, its alarmist.