'I'm very fortunate': British passenger on SQ321 counts himself lucky to have suffered only minor injuries

BANGKOK: When Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 hit an extreme patch of turbulence, British passenger Josh Silverstone, 24, suddenly found himself on the floor.

"I didn't realise what happened. I must have hit my head somewhere - lots of people hit their heads - everyone was bleeding," he told reporters outside Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital in Bangkok on Wednesday (May 22).

On the plane after the incident, Mr Silverstone bought inflight Wi-Fi and sent a message to his mother.

"I tried not to scare her but I said I love you. People were scared," he said, adding that some passengers moved seats to be with their family members.

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He suffered relatively minor injuries - a cut near his left eye, a chipped tooth and some pain in his neck - and said he felt fine until he arrived at the airport in Bangkok.

"Then I started feeling really sick ... couldn't stop vomiting," said Mr Silverstone.

"But there were lots of people in worse positions than me; people were laying out on the floor and they couldn't move."

He said he heard that many of the passengers sustained spinal injuries from hitting their heads and coming back down.

"A lot of people can barely move their (backs). I'm very fortunate to walk and come out here, only really 24 hours later," said Mr Silverstone, who will soon be starting work as a broker.

Mr Geoff Kitchen, a 73-year-old British man who is said to have served his local community for decades, died on the flight. Suvarnabhumi Airport general manager Kittipong Kittikachorn said a heart attack was the likely cause of death.

Dozens of people were taken to the hospital after SQ321 made an emergency landing at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport at 3.45pm local time on Tuesday. 

Mr Silverstone praised the crew for doing doing an amazing job and being very helpful. He added that he was happy to be alive in Bangkok, and still plans to travel to Bali to meet his friends despite his fear of flying.

"I was scared of flying before; I'm even more scared now, but the pilots did well and I'm here and I'm happy to be here." He will be taking a flight out of Bangkok on Thursday.

Several passengers or their family members were spotted at Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital on Wednesday, but declined to speak to the dozens of reporters in the lobby. 

Security officers and customer service officers from the hospital stopped the media from approaching the group as they exited the building.

In an official statement, Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital said that 58 passengers are still receiving treatment in various hospitals in Bangkok. 20 are in the intensive care unit, and 27 have been discharged.

One of the passengers who had been discharged told Singapore news platform 8World that the turbulence was so strong that she was thrown into the air despite having her seatbelt on. 

British student Daisy, 22, hit her head on the overhead luggage compartment and suffered a concussion. She said she was in shock on Tuesday and did not feel much pain, but woke up on Wednesday with intense pain on the top and back of her head.

Other passengers were moving around the cabin or not wearing their seatbelts suffered more serious injuries, she said. 

Her seat was near the back of the plane, and from that zone, she saw six or seven people stretchered off the aircraft.

She praised the crew for their professionalism and good service.

Singapore Airlines arranged for a relief flight to take those who were fit to travel to Singapore.

A total of 131 passengers and 12 crew members arrived at Changi Airport at 5.05am on Wednesday.