Singapore Airlines emergency landing claims one life, injures 30

One passenger was tragically killed and 30 others were injured as a Singapore Airlines flight made an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok due to the severe weather.

Thai PBS reported that the air traffic control team at Suvarnabhumi Airport received an emergency signal, squawk code 7700, from the Boeing 777-300ER at 4 pm today, May 21. The aircraft en route from London to Singapore requested permission for an emergency landing in Bangkok due to encountering severe weather.

The Facebook page, Pilot Notebook (บันทึกไม่ลับของคนขับเครื่องบิน), later shared that the Singapore Airlines plane encountered with an inclement weather after departing from London and heading to Changi Airport in Singapore.

According to the page, the pilot was compelled to divert the flight’s destination to Suvarnabhumi Airport. Unfortunately, the emergency landing led to the fatality of one passenger and injuries to 30 others. The flight carried 211 passengers and 18 cabin crew, as the South China Morning Post reported.

The report speculated that the incident might have been triggered by unforeseen air turbulence over the Indian Ocean, although the official cause remains unconfirmed. Additionally, it was suggested that the deceased passenger sustained fatal injuries due to not wearing a seatbelt during the landing.

In a related report, bad weather also contributed to a tragic helicopter crash in Iran on May 19. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were among the 11 people killed in the incident.

The helicopter was reportedly transporting the leaders from the Azerbaijani border to Tabriz and had to fight through a heavy fog and snowstorm before it crashed in the mountains of East Azerbaijan province. However, the cause of the accident has not yet been officially confirmed by the Iranian authorities.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin expressed his condolences and ordered government offices to fly the Thai flag at half-mast in memory of those who lost their lives.