A PILOT error may have been at least partly to blame for Tuesday’s fatal Singapore Airlines turbulence that left a Brit granddad dead.
Jay Sadri has 14 years of experience flying commercial jets and told The Sun the chaos onboard the Boeing may have been worsened by a pilot mistake.
The packed jet plunged 7,000ft in a six-minute death drop in a horror flight that has left 20 passengers in intensive care including six brave Brits.
Geoff Kitchen, 73, died of a suspected heart attack as others were sent to the hospital in neck braces and slings with some even being carried away from the battered jet on stretchers.
Flight SQ321 took off from London Heathrow shortly after 10pm on Monday with 211 passengers and 18 crew on board – including 47 Brits.
Nearly 11 hours into the 13-hour journey to Singapore, the plane was smashed by sudden “severe turbulence” while passengers were eating breakfast, officials said.
If you can see a thunderstorm coming up, you can almost guarantee that if you fly through it, you’ll get severe turbulence. So you go around it
Jay Sadri
AccuWeather, a top weather forecasting service said rapidly developing, explosive thunderstorms near the Boeing’s flight path is likely the cause of the violent turbulence.
Sadri, 34, told The Sun that dangerous weather is not uncommon in the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar where the turbulence first kicked in.
He said: “In that part of the world you can get some very, very severe weather. You can get some really sudden and violent thunderstorms.”
He said the risk of dangerous turbulence rises in extreme conditions, “if the pilots saw the weather and didn’t avoid it in time”.
With the weather being as problematic as it was, Sadri claims the pilot should have been aware of the risk of turbulence and taken extra precautions in light of it.
“If you can see a thunderstorm coming up, you can almost guarantee that if you fly through it, you’ll get severe turbulence. So you go around it,” he said.
“You have a weather radar in front of you on your screen, and then you can see the intensity of it depending, you know, because it will paint different colours.
“So generally you would ask air traffic if you can make a turn to go around it, and air traffic will almost always say yes.
“It’s quite difficult to miss one.”
He added it is common practice as a pilot to put the seatbelt sign on when travelling through a storm so the cabin is secure.
He said: “Generally, if you are expecting turbulence as a pilot, you’ll then put the seatbelt signs on.
“And then the cabin crew will confirm that everyone is buckled in a few minutes later.
“If it was a big thunderstorm, even if you go around it, you can still feel the effects of the turbulence sometimes, so you would still put the seat belt signs on just in case.”
But Sadri insists it is possible that there simply wasn’t enough time for everyone to get safely strapped in.
Singapore Airlines declined to comment on the claims made by Sadri when they were put to them by The Sun.
Shocking images showed food, drinks and cutlery strewn across the galley kitchens of the plane as it was violently thrown around.
Ceiling fittings were also ripped apart with pipework becoming dangerously exposed.
Several shell-shocked passengers were reportedly not wearing seatbelts when the ordeal erupted on board causing them to smash into cabins overhead as the plane suddenly jolted.
Those injured were seen being wheeled off the plane by paramedics in wheelchairs and on stretchers – with some in neck braces.
Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student, said: “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 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.”
Victims of the turbulence praised the staff for their “stoicism” but noted they were all left injured.
Australian Teandra Tukhunen said she was asleep when she “was woken up because I was thrown to the roof and then to the floor” at Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital in Bangkok.
The 30-year-old, who had her left arm in a sling at the hospital, added that she was pushed to the roof before she had a chance to fasten her seatbelt.
“It was just so quick, over in a couple of seconds and then you’re just shocked. Everyone’s pretty freaked out”.
Everybody on the aircraft was relatively unprepared, and that’s dangerous. If you have your seatbelt loosely fastened at all times, this kind of disaster will not happen to you
David Learmount
Aviation expert David Learmount said the tragedy should serve as a reminder to passengers and flight crew about how crucial seatbelts are to in-flight safety.
Mr Learmount told The Sun: “Now the indication there is that the crew didn’t know this turbulence was coming, or they weren’t expecting it to be anything like it actually turned out to be.
“So everybody on the aircraft was relatively unprepared, and that’s dangerous.
“If you have your seatbelt loosely fastened at all times, this kind of disaster will not happen to you.
“It would be very uncomfortable, but at least you won’t get thrown at the ceiling.”
'I love you all', reads terrified passenger's text
By Juliana Cruz Lima, Foreign News Reporter
A TERRIFIED passenger onboard the horror Singapore Airlines flight sent an emotional text as the Boeing jet plunged 7,000 feet during a deadly turbulence.
On his way to a holiday in Bali, traveller Josh texted what he thought could be his final words to his loved ones.
Mum Allison Barker described the hours of desperate wait after getting a chilling message from her son at 9.10 this morning.
“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,” Josh’s text read.
Allison told the BBC: “‘It was terrifying. I didn’t know what was going on.
“We didn’t know whether he’d survived, it was so nerve wracking. It was the longest two hours of my life.
“It was awful; it was petrifying.”
When she finally got through to her son, Josh assured her he was safe.
But he confessed he had some minor injuries to his teeth, adding he was “in a lot of pain.”
Many of the passengers were also full of praise for the pilot and cabin during the disastrous flight.
Tukhunen said: “The pilots saved our lives, that’s all that matters in the end.”
The pilots saved our lives, that’s all that matters in the end
Teandra Tukhunen
Another pilot claimed they were forced to divert around the same area just two days earlier.
Thunderstorms in the Bay of Bengal are reasonably common as the pilot said: “We were about 30 miles off track flying around the thunderstorms two days ago on the way to Singapore.”
‘All hell broke loose’
One passenger onboard claimed the flight was “quite smooth” for the majority of the journey before chaos erupted.
Andrew Davies, who had been travelling to New Zealand for business, recalled seeing the seatbelt sign suddenly light up as panic set in.
He fastened his seatbelt, telling CNN: “Thank goodness I did because within moments of doing that, all hell broke loose.
“The plane just felt like it dropped. It probably only lasted a few seconds, but I remember vividly seeing shoes and iPads and iPhones and cushions and blankets and cutlery and plates and cups flying through the air and crashing to the ceiling.
“The gentleman next to me had a cup of coffee, which went straight all over me and up to the ceiling.”
Everything was fine until I arrived back in the airport and I couldn’t stop vomiting. I couldn’t walk – it was pretty bad. I woke up on the floor
Josh Silverstone
Sitting right behind Davies was granddad Geoff Kitchen.
Davies recalled there being “so much screaming” as passengers tended to Kitchen, carried him out of his seat, and administered CPR.
Another nearby passenger had “a big gash in her head and blood pouring down her face”, he said.
Many horrified passengers managed to walk off the plane but quickly discovered they had suffered internal injuries which were only spotted later at the hospital.
Nine underwent surgery on Tuesday with five more operations scheduled for today.
The ICU patients include six Britons, six Malaysians, three Australians, two Singaporeans and one each from Hong Kong, New Zealand, and the Philippines – while 27 others were discharged.
Overall, 104 people on board needed medical care.
Turbulence deaths are rare tragedies
By Lisa Minot, Head of Travel
THE idea that a flier can be killed by turbulence will strike fear into the hearts of many who have experienced it on a flight.
Nervous fliers often cite the terrifying experience of turbulence as the reason they are so scared of taking to the skies. Even the most confident flyer can feel panic when a plane begins to rattle and roll.
But in reality, this is a relatively rare occurrence. There have been just 38 deaths in the last 15 years, with another 30 passengers and 116 crew seriously injured. Compare that to the more than 4.4billion people who take to the skies each year around the world.
Jet streams, atmospheric pressure and storms are the most common reasons for turbulence but the most dangerous is clear air turbulence as pilots have no warning and time to put seabelt signs on.
However, just three percent of flights experience light turbulence, one per cent of them get moderate episodes and mere tenths of one percent experience severe issues.
When moderate or severe turbulence does lead to injuries, it is passengers not wearing their seatbelt or standing in aisles or toilets who are most at risk.
Keeping your seatbelt on for the entire flight is the most sensible way to ensure that should the worst happen, you are taking the best precautions possible.
Passenger Josh Silverstone, 24, from London said: “I only had a cut in my eye and a chipped tooth, it could be way worse.
“Everything was fine until I arrived back in the airport and I couldn’t stop vomiting. I couldn’t walk – it was pretty bad.
“I woke up on the floor. I didn’t realise what happened – I must’ve hit my head somewhere.
“There were people laying out on the floor – they were paralysed.”
The plane was later diverted to Bangkok after the tragic turbulence with 143 passengers and crew being flown to Singapore.
Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong said they landed early this morning.
Retired insurance worker Kitchen’s autopsy process is ongoing, although early investigations suggested he suffered a heart condition.
CEO Goh said Singapore Airlines was “deeply saddened by this incident” and “very sorry for the traumatic experience” passengers endured as he extended his condolences to Kitchen’s loved ones.
A Boeing spokesman said: “We are in contact with Singapore Airlines regarding flight SQ321 and stand ready to support them.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one, and our thoughts are with the passengers and crew.”
Singapore’s Ministry of Transport is also investigating the ordeal and probing whether instruments on board the aircraft could have detected the deadly turbulence.
Attention was focused on the Boeing’s weather radar amid claims raised by pilots that it failed to spot dangers – and that the more advanced systems required more pilot training.
