The extreme turbulence that killed one passenger and injured dozens on a current Singapore Airways flight led to sudden modifications in altitude and airspeed, Singapore’s Transport Ministry mentioned on Wednesday.
Flight SQ321 encountered turbulence about 10 hours right into a 13-hour journey to Singapore from London final week, officers mentioned. Lots of the 211 passengers had simply completed breakfast.
The turbulence hit because the airplane was touring over southern Myanmar at an altitude of 37,000 ft, the Transport Ministry mentioned in a preliminary report on Wednesday.
When the airplane rose unexpectedly by 362 ft, most likely due to an updraft, its autopilot pitched it downward, the report mentioned. The airplane additionally sped up unexpectedly across the identical time, and the pilots manually hit a brake in response.
All of that exercise most likely prompted the accidents to the passengers and crew members because the airplane misplaced about 178 ft of altitude in lower than 5 seconds, the report mentioned. Individuals who weren’t carrying seatbelts grew to become airborne earlier than falling again down.
The airplane was diverted to Thailand, the place it landed safely. Officers later mentioned a 73-year-old man from Britain had died on board and that 71 individuals had been injured.
