Head injuries and bleeding ears: Passengers recount chaos on turbulent Singapore Airlines flight

SINGAPORE: There was little warning of the chaos that was about to hit passengers on Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 on Tuesday (May 21).

With around three hours left on the journey from London to Singapore, Malaysian student Dzafran Azmir got the feeling that the Boeing 777-300R plane was tilting upwards and beginning to shake.

The 28-year-old braced himself and checked that he had his seatbelt on. He did. Many of the other passengers did not, he said.

"Suddenly there was a very dramatic drop so everyone seated and not wearing a seatbelt was launched immediately into the ceiling, some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it, they hit the places where lights and masks are and broke straight through it," Azmir told Reuters.

"People dropped to the ground, my phone flew out of my hand and went a couple aisles to the side, people's shoes flung about."

Singapore Airlines said the flight encountered sudden extreme turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin at 37,000 feet about 10 hours after departure. 

The pilot declared an emergency and diverted the aircraft to Bangkok, where it landed at 3.45pm local time.

One passenger died - a 73-year-old British man - and 30 were injured, some critically.

Photos online and those sent to CNA showed food trays and items scattered on the ground. Oxygen masks were seen hanging from the scaling and parts of the plane's interior appeared damaged. 

Passenger Andrew Davies said the seatbelt sign was turned on moments before the plane dropped. 

"So many injured people, head lacerations, bleeding ears," he wrote on X, adding that a female passenger was screaming in pain. 

People's belongings were scattered, with coffee and water splattered on the ceiling. 

The cabin crew were "stoic and did everything they could", Davies said, adding that passengers with medical training were helping to the best of their ability. 

"Anyone who is injured, was not wearing a seatbelt," he said.

According to Azmir, the crew and people inside the lavatories were hurt the most. 

"We discovered people just on the ground not able to get up. There were a lot of spinal and head injuries," he told Reuters.

Aviation analysts told CNA that SQ321 likely encountered clear air turbulence (CAT), which is not visible on a jet's weather radar.

“Normally, for turbulence caused by movement of clouds, pilots will be alerted on the radar so they can avoid it or notify the crew and passengers to wear their seatbelts,” said independent aviation analyst Alvin Lie.

“So, looking at the number of injuries, I believe that SQ321 encountered CAT, where a plane can be tossed about violently."

He added that based on the time of the incident, the turbulence struck after lunch.

"I expect a lot of passengers were queuing to use the toilet. This is where injuries can happen," he said.