If turbulence terrifies you … look away now.
A Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore was forced to divert to Bangkok after encountering "sudden extreme turbulence" over Myanmar, plunging 6,000 feet in a matter of minutes, leaving one person dead and dozens injured.
The Boeing 777-300ER departed London's Heathrow Airport on Monday, with 221 passengers and 18 crew members on board the Singapore Airlines flight. Severe turbulence was experienced approximately 11 hours into the flight, around 90 minutes from Singapore.
Here's how Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student on the flight, described the ordeal to ABC News:
"Suddenly the aircraft starts tilting up and there was shaking so I started bracing for what was happening, and very 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."
"Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased. Our priority is to provide all possible assistance to all passengers and crew on board the aircraft. We are working with the local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary medical assistance," the airline announced in a statement.
While this seems to be the latest in a long line of bad news cycles for Boeing, it's important to remember that turbulence is an (unfortunately) unavoidable part of air travel, with clear-air turbulence (one likely cause of this incident) impossible to predict.
Here was the aftermath:
[Warning: Graphic]
Suddenly Amtrak isn't looking so shabby, is it?
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