The Singapore-bound Boeing 777-300ER from London was rerouted to Bangkok, the place it touched down at 3.45pm native time (8.45am GMT).
After crossing the Bay of Bengal, the plane seems to have fallen 6,000ft (2,000 metres) in a few minutes, in accordance with flight-monitoring information.
The airline introduced in an announcement that Flight SQ 321 was carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members in whole.
The sufferer was a 73-year-old British man, who “probably” died from a coronary heart assault, in accordance with airport authorities in Bangkok.
Seven people are critically harm.
A passenger reported to the Reuters information company that the aircraft started “tilting up and there was shaking” out of nowhere, with passengers who weren’t carrying seatbelts thrown into the overhead compartments.
One passenger, Andrew Davies, a father-of-two from Lewisham in south-east London, stated on X, “My coronary heart goes out to the gentleman who misplaced his life and his poor spouse. Terrible expertise.”
However what’s turbulence and the way harmful is it?
Turbulence refers to sporadic air motion that ends in unpredictable variations within the aircraft’s altitude or angle, giving passengers the feeling of being tossed round or bumped.
Turbulence could be brought on by climate fronts, storms, air close to mountains, and atmospheric stress, in accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Turbulence is incessantly brought on by jet streams, that are sturdy, slim bands of wind within the higher ambiance.
How harmful is turbulence?
Accidents from turbulence are very uncommon.
Solely three per cent of the ambiance has gentle turbulence, one per cent has reasonable, and some tenths of a % has extreme turbulence at any given time at flight cruising heights.
Based on FAA information, out of the hundreds of thousands of people who fly yearly, turbulence brought about important accidents to 30 passengers and 116 crew members between 2009 and 2021.
Nevertheless, there may be all the time an opportunity of harmful turbulence.
Clear-air turbulence, which lacks any obvious warning and incessantly occurs when pilots fail to modify on the fasten seatbelt indicator, is likely one of the most harmful varieties of turbulence.
“It is fully invisible to the bare eye, to the radar, to satellites. The one data now we have about it, actually, is when a aircraft goes by way of it,” says Paul Williams, a professor of atmospheric science on the College of Studying, who researches turbulence.
Elevated jet-stream instability and higher wind speeds because of local weather change will end in elevated turbulence even in clear skies. Williams concluded that, by 2050, pilots worldwide ought to anticipate to expertise not less than twice as a lot extreme clear-air turbulence.
How can passengers keep away from getting harm throughout turbulence?
By carrying their seatbelts always, passengers can simply keep away from getting harm in sudden turbulence.
Respect the carry-on baggage insurance policies of your airline to keep away from accidents sustained throughout journey.
Learn the protection briefing card and take note of the protection briefing at the beginning of your flight.
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