Aircraft hit by severe turbulence returns to Singapore, local media reports

May 26, 2024 - 4:32 PM
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Singapore Airlines aircraft for flight SQ321 is parked on the tarmac after an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, in Bangkok, Thailand, May 22, 2024. (Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha)

The Singapore Airlines (SIA) SIAL.SI aircraft used for a flight in which a passenger died during severe turbulence returned to Singapore on Sunday, five days after its emergency landing in Bangkok, Channel News Asia (CNA) reported.

A 73-year-old British man died of a suspected heart attack and dozens were injured on Tuesday after flight SQ321, flying from London to Singapore, encountered what the airline described as sudden, extreme turbulence while flying over Myanmar.

The flight carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew diverted to Bangkok for an emergency landing.

Forty one people who were on board remain hospitalised in Bangkok, five of whom are in intensive care – three Australians, one British and one New Zealander, Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital in the Thai capital said on Sunday.

READ: Thai hospital says 43 people from Singapore Airlines flight still under treatment

Flight tracking service Flightradar24 showed the aircraft, operating as flight SQ9071, left Bangkok on Sunday at 0349 GMT and arrived in Singapore at 0539 GMT.

“SIA obtained the necessary approvals from the relevant authorities in Singapore and Thailand, the investigators, and the aircraft manufacturer, and the aircraft was cleared by our Engineering and Flight Operations teams, before departure,” Singapore Airlines told CNA.

—Reporting by Rozanna Latiff and Lisa Barrington; Editing by William Mallard and Christopher Cushing