Singapore Airlines turbulence left blood ‘everywhere’; 20 remain in intensive care

Passengers on board a Singapore Airlines flight that experienced “severe turbulence” have described their terror as the plane plunged several hundred meters before stabilizing and making an emergency landing in Bangkok.

“I saw people across the aisle going completely horizontal, hitting the ceiling and falling back into really uncomfortable positions,” Dzafran Azmir, 28, told Reuters on Wednesday.

Azmir, a student, added that people had “huge gashes on their heads” as the Boeing 777-300ER flying from London to Singapore fell through the sky.

A passenger, widely identified in the British press as Geoff Kitchen, 73, died in the incident.

Without naming the passenger, Kittipong Kittikachorn, general manager of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, said Tuesday that the person was suffering from medical problems that could have led to a fatal cardiac arrest.

“It was obvious this man needed help,” passenger Andrew Davies, 54, told Reuters, adding that medics performed CPR for about 20 minutes.

Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital in Bangkok said in a statement on Wednesday that it was still treating 58 people and 20 patients remained in intensive care. In total, 104 people were treated. Singapore Airlines said the flight was carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members.

Among those treated was British passenger Josh Silverstone, 24, who told The Associated Press he broke a tooth and suffered cuts to his eye and neck. “There were a lot of people in worse situations than me, they were lying on the ground and couldn’t move, they were completely paralyzed,” he said.

Praising cabin crew, Davies said he found many of them were injured in the incident. One of them, he said, “suffered a lot of back pain. But he continued to serve people, help them and get medical help as much as he could.

After taking off Monday at 10:38 p.m. London time (5:38 p.m. ET), the plane’s journey appeared to be uneventful, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.

But about 10 hours later, the plane experienced a sharp drop from its cruising altitude. In one fell swoop, he fell nearly 700 feet. Less than 10 minutes later, the plane began its descent towards Bangkok.

Rapidly developing explosive thunderstorms were recorded near the flight path by weather forecast service AccuWeather.

Photos and videos posted by the plane’s passengers shortly after the incident showed top panels torn off and food, bottles and personal belongings strewn across the cabin. A video showed a bloodstain spread on the ceiling.

“Heads had literally punched through and smashed through the plastic panels and, like, there was just blood and broken pieces everywhere,” said Azmir, the student.

Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong apologized “for the trauma suffered by all passengers and crew on this flight” in a video posted to Facebook. He added that he wanted to express his “deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased passenger.”

Officers from Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau were investigating the incident, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

As the plane was manufactured by the American company Boeing, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was sending an accredited representative and four technical advisers to support the investigation, he added.