Mum reveals chilling lone text she received during Singapore Airline’s deadly plane plunge

A woman has revealed the chilling lone text she received from her son who was sitting inside the cabin during Singapore Airline’s deadly plane plunge.

A mother has revealed the traumatic moment she received a single text message from her son while he was on board the Singapore Airlines flight that plunged 2000m in the sky.

Almost 60 Australians were on-board flight SQ321 from London to Singapore on Tuesday when the Boeing 777-300ER struck horror turbulence 11 hours into the journey, sending passengers smashing into the ceiling as the plane dropped thousands of feet.

Passengers of Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 from London to Singapore, which made an emergency landing in Bangkok. Picture: Roslan RAHMAN / AFP.

One man, Geoff Kitchen, 73, died on board after suffering a heart attack as the turbulence hit while another 71 people were injured before the plane made an emergency landing in Bangkok, Thailand.

Josh Barker was one of the 211 passengers aboard the Boeing. As turbulence hit, the man feared the worst — and sent a frantic text to his mum at 9.10am on May 21.

It read: “I don’t want to scare you, but I’m on a crazy flight. The plane is making an emergency landing … I love you all.”

The chilling text Josh Barker sent his mum.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Barker’s mother Alison said receiving the lone text was “petrifying”

“It was terrifying. I didn’t know what was going on,” she said, adding he was en route to Bali.

“We didn’t know whether he’d survived, it was so nerve-racking. It was the longest two hours of my life. It was awful; it was petrifying.”

Mrs Barker said while her son was lucky to survive the ordeal, he was still in “a lot of pain” having sustained injuries to his teeth and fears the near-death experience will have a lasting impact.

Inside the cabin of flight SQ321.

Shocking footage has revealed the aftermath of turbulence that left one dead and dozens injured on board a Singapore Airlines flight.

Flight SQ321 had taken off from London’s Heathrow Airport and “encountered sudden extreme turbulence” at 37,000 feet over Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Basin, according to Singapore Airlines.

It confirmed in a statement that there were “injuries and one fatality” and said there had been a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew on board.

An initial data analysis by the aviation tracking service Flightradar24 suggested the flight experienced more than one minute of extreme turbulence at around 11,300 metres (37,000 feet) over Myanmar, during which it violently rose and plunged several times.

The aircraft later affected a sharp, controlled descent and diverted to Bangkok.

Medical staff at Bangkok airport. Picture: Twitter

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong sent his “deepest condolences” to the family and loved ones of the deceased, posting on Facebook that his country was “working closely with Thai authorities”.

Most of the injured passengers on the flight suffered blows to the head, said the director of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, Kittipong Kittikachorn, who confirmed the age and nationality of the deceased man. Emergency vehicles raced onto the tarmac at the Thai capital’s main airport with lights flashing and sirens blaring after the plane touched down at 3.45pm local time (6.45pm AEST).

The episode marks the latest drama involving a Boeing plane, after a fuselage panel blew out of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX in January as well as two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.

Boeing said it was “ready to support” Singapore Airlines.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one, and our thoughts are with the passengers and crew,” Boeing said on social media platform X.