Singapore Airlines emergency: Pilot’s disturbing theory on plane’s 6,000ft plunge – as eight Aussies are put in hospital following horror air incident that killed a British man

A former pilot and air accident investigator has suggested climate change may have been responsible for the horror flight that killed one passenger and injured dozens of others.

Nearly 60 Australians were aboard flight SQ321 from London to Singapore on Tuesday when the Boeing 777-300ER plane suddenly plummeted more than 6,000 feet in just five minutes, throwing passengers and crew to the ceiling.

Geoffrey Kitchen, a 73-year-old musical theater director from Gloucestershire, UK, died of a suspected heart attack, while eight Australians were later hospitalized for injuries sustained during the chaos.

The disaster, caused by unexpected turbulence eleven hours into the journey, forced the plane to make an emergency landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The disaster, caused by unexpected turbulence eleven hours into the journey, forced the plane to make an emergency landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Shocking photos taken on the plane captured a scene of utter carnage, including flight attendants with blood smeared across their faces, oxygen masks dangling from the damaged ceiling and rubbish littering every aisle.

Tim Atkinson, an aviation consultant and former aircraft accident investigator, said the plane was one of the “largest and, dare I say, most solid airframes to fly around the world.”

“It is regarded as an exceptionally well-built machine within the piloting and aviation community and for turbulence to have such an effect on a triple-seven it must have really been quite severe,” he told Sky News.

Mr Atkinson said the area the plane flew over, known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone, is “known among pilots, and dare I say passengers, for its turbulence.”

After about 11 hours of flying from take-off in London, the plane descended sharply 6,000 feet in just five minutes, causing chaos in the cabin. In photos of the aftermath, a flight attendant was seen with blood running down her face (pictured)

“Despite occasional abundant caution, there is turbulence ahead that cannot be identified, and the unfortunate consequence of an encounter is injury and, very rarely, fatality,” he said.

Mr Atkinson urged all passengers to keep their seatbelts fastened when seated.

He also suggested a disturbing theory for the disaster.

“We are seeing as climate change occurs that turbulence is becoming more common and more severe, and that is something that the aviation industry is currently trying to address,” Mr Atkinson told the newspaper. BBC.

A global study published last year by Reading University in Britain found that climate change is increasing turbulence during flights – and this trend was predicted to worsen.

Tim Atkinson (pictured), an aviation consultant and former air accident investigator, suggested climate change could have been responsible for the plane’s horror flight

It found that at a typical spot in the North Atlantic Ocean – one of the busiest routes in the world – the total annual duration of severe turbulence has increased by 55 percent, from 17.7 hours in 1979 to 27.4 hours in 2020.

“My message from this is that we have to do something, otherwise flights will become more turbulent in the future (as climate change creates more turbulence),” said Professor Paul Williams, an atmospheric scientist who co-authored the study.

Of the 211 passengers and 18 crew on board the Singapore Airlines flight, Thai authorities said 71 people were sent for treatment, six of whom were seriously injured, with many suffering cuts to the head as they were thrown aloft.

At least eight Australians are in hospital in Bangkok and the Australian government is trying to determine if there are any more injured.

There were 56 Australians on board among the 211 passengers and 18 crew.

“Consular officers from the Australian Embassy in Bangkok are providing consular assistance to eight Australians taken to hospital in Bangkok,” a Foreign Affairs spokesperson said.

“The Australian Embassy in Bangkok and the Australian High Commission in Singapore continue to conduct investigations to confirm whether additional Australians have been affected.”

Singapore Airlines extended its condolences to the family of the deceased man and apologized for the “traumatic experience” suffered by passengers and crew.