By Alex Crowe, Jessica McSweeney and Angus Dalton
Australian passengers started arriving home on Wednesday night after surviving severe turbulence on a Singapore Airlines flight that left one person dead, dozens injured and three Australians in intensive care.
The shell-shocked passengers, some in tears, arrived to cheers and the embrace of family members at Sydney Airport after one Australian traveller recounted how she was hurled to the ceiling before landing on the floor among glass and breakfast food during the incident.
The plane, whose passengers included 56 Australians, was about 10 hours into the London to Singapore flight on Tuesday night (AEST) when it hit turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar, flinging passengers and crew around the cabin. The pilot requested an emergency landing and the plane was diverted to Bangkok, where it landed safely.
Three Australians were among 20 passengers in intensive care on Wednesday, according to a statement from a network of Thai hospitals. Another 38 people, including nine Australians, were receiving treatment in inpatient departments at the Srinakarin and Sukhumvit hospitals.
The statement said nine patients had undergone surgery and a further five were scheduled for surgery, but it did not specify nationalities.
Port Macquarie passenger Beverley Mayers spoke of her shock and fear after the incident, which saw people flip up into the air and sustain gashes to their heads as they hit the ceiling.
Beverley Mayers upon arrival at Sydney Airport.Credit: Nine News
“It wasn’t until I got off the plane and sat in [a] room … and since then I can’t stop crying,” Mayers told Nine News at Sydney Airport.
Her son had come to pick her up, and she said to him: “I have to stay with you tonight and see my other children – I’ve just got to hold them close.”
Another passenger, Teandra Tuhkunen, from Victoria, said there was little warning of the impending turbulence. “The seatbelt sign went on, and as I went to get it on me, all of a sudden I was on the roof of the cabin,” she said.
Not everyone had had time to secure their seatbelts. “I was flung up to the roof and then as the plane dropped forward so did I, I then hit the floor quite hard and all the breakfast items and glass flew forward as well,” she said. “The poor crew was preparing breakfast for everyone, so they got the worst injuries.”
Having injured her shoulder, Tuhkunen was treated in a Bangkok hospital before being put up in a hotel to wait for a flight to Singapore. She said she was yet to hear from authorities in Australia.
“I’m lucky to escape with only a minor injury compared to so many others,” she said.
Australian Teandra Tuhkunen hit the ceiling and was thrown to the floor during turbulence.
British man Geoffrey Kitchen was identified as the passenger who died. The 73-year-old grandfather had been en route to Australia with his wife, Linda, when flight SQ321 hit turbulence.
The incident, which will be subject to an investigation by Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau, may have been caused by convective turbulence from thunderstorms in the region, vice president of the Australian and International Pilots’ Association Mark Hofmeyer said.
Reports that turbulence caused the plane to plunge 6000 feet, or almost two kilometres, were wrong, he added.
“From the data I can see, it feels like there was initially an updraft followed by a downdraft, which is sort of the aircraft almost cresting a wave, followed by a drop, a bit like a rollercoaster,” he said.
“The pilots at that point would’ve been fighting to gain control of the airplane.”
The pilots likely deliberately descended by 1.8 kilometres to slow down and take stock of damage and injuries within the cabin, he said.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said eight Australians were being treated for injuries in a Bangkok hospital. She did not comment on the severity of the injuries.
“This is a terrible experience that these people have gone through. As usual, the Australian government will provide consular assistance wherever we can, wherever it’s needed, to those people,” O’Neil told Channel Seven’s Sunrise.
Singapore Airlines said a team of its staff in Bangkok was assisting crew and passengers from the flight. The airline said it was co-operating with authorities in an investigation into the incident.
Chief executive Goh Choon Phong expressed his condolences to the loved ones of the passenger who died.
“We also deeply apologise for the trauma experienced by all passengers and crew members on this flight,” he said.
“We are providing all possible assistance and support to them, along with their families and loved ones, during this difficult time. The wellbeing of our passengers and staff is our utmost priority.”
In March, about 50 people suffered injuries when a LATAM Airlines flight from Sydney to Auckland made a sudden drop. Investigations pointed to a sudden movement of a seat in the flight deck as the cause.
Passengers who were on SQ321 described a sudden drop in the air, sending crew and passengers who weren’t wearing seatbelts crashing into the ceiling.
Australians affected should contact the Australian government’s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305 from overseas or 1300 555 135 from within Australia.
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