A 73-year-old British man has died from a suspected heart attack after turbulence on a London-Singapore flight.
Dozens more have been injured after passengers described people being “launched into the ceiling” and overhead lockers.
Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 from Heathrow was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok.
Seven people have serious head injuries and others have minor wounds, said the head of the Thailand airport.
The aircraft took off at 10.38pm UK time on Monday but diverted to Bangkok, landing at 3.45pm local time on Tuesday.
Passenger Dzafran Azmir, 28, described chaos as the turbulence hit.
“Suddenly the aircraft starts tilting up and there was shaking so I started bracing for what was happening,” he said.
“And very suddenly there was a very dramatic drop so everyone seated and not wearing seatbelts was launched immediately into the ceiling.”
“Some people hit their heads on the luggage compartments above and got dents,” he added.
“They hit where the lights and masks were and went straight through.”
“No one who was wearing a seatbelt was injured.” Ta. It was lit up, but the crew didn’t have time to take their seats.
Mr Davis said: “All the flight attendants I saw were injured in some way, probably cuts to the head…One had a bad back and was clearly in pain.” he said. , the director of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport told reporters that the 73-year-old British man probably died of cardiac arrest.
He said about 30 people were injured, including at least one crew member, and that many passengers were unable to walk and had to be helped off the plane.
The airport director added that the sudden turbulence is believed to have occurred while people were having breakfast.
Mr. Kichkakorn claimed that the cause of this incident was “bubbles.”
He said the deceased man’s wife was also accompanying him to the hospital, and the person with minor injuries had also been discharged.
The UK Foreign Office said it was “liaising with local authorities” about the incident.
Flight tracking data showed the aircraft flew at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,280 m) before descending to 6,000 feet (1,830 m) in about three minutes.
But a FlightRadar24 spokesman said this appeared to be “just a change in altitude in preparation for landing”.
The Boeing 777-300ER was carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members.
Videos on social media showed ambulances surrounding the plane on the tarmac.
“Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of those who lost their lives,” it said in a statement.
“We deeply apologize for the traumatic experiences endured by passengers and crew on this flight.”
The airline said it was working with Thai authorities and had deployed a special team to Bangkok to provide assistance.
Singapore is considered a benchmark in the aviation industry and consistently earns the best airfares.
According to a study by the National Transportation Safety Board, turbulence-related injuries are the most common on passenger aircraft.
It was found that the company was responsible for more than a third of accidents from 2009 to 2018, but not for damage to the aircraft.