GRANDAD, 73, DIES AFTER SINGAPORE AIRLINES PLANE PLUNGES 178FT IN LESS THAN FIVE SECONDS DURING SEVERE TURBULENCE

A British grandfather died after a Singapore Airlines flight was hit by severe turbulence that caused the aircraft to plunge 178 feet in less than five seconds, an inquest has heard.

Geoff Kitchen, 73, from Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, was travelling with his wife Linda on Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 from London Heathrow to Singapore on May 21, 2024.

The Boeing 777 encountered severe turbulence while flying over Myanmar, sending passengers and crew members into the air and causing dozens of serious injuries.

The aircraft was forced to divert to Bangkok, where Mr Kitchen was pronounced dead.

INQUEST HEARS HOW THE TURBULENCE BECAME FATAL

An inquest at Avon Coroner’s Court heard that Mr Kitchen suffered a fatal cardiac arrest during the incident.

Pathologist evidence concluded that he had underlying coronary artery disease, but the physiological effects of the extreme turbulence precipitated the fatal cardiac event.

The coroner therefore concluded that the turbulence was the trigger for his death.

Mr Kitchen had been sitting beside his wife when the aircraft suddenly encountered the severe conditions.

The violent changes in the aircraft’s vertical acceleration caused unrestrained passengers to become airborne before being thrown back down.

THE PLANE DROPPED 178 FEET

Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau found that SQ321 experienced dramatic changes in vertical acceleration during the incident.

The aircraft’s recorded vertical acceleration changed from +1.35G to -1.5G in just 0.6 seconds.

It then shifted back toward +1.5G over the following four seconds.

The sequence resulted in an altitude drop of approximately 178 feet, from 37,362 feet to 37,184 feet.

The final investigation later determined that the turbulence was associated with rapidly developing convective clouds rather than simply being clear-air turbulence.

Investigators found that a cloud near the aircraft’s path had rapidly grown from around 27,500 feet to approximately 40,000 feet in just 10 minutes.

56 PASSENGERS SUFFERED SERIOUS INJURIES

The turbulence caused widespread injuries throughout the cabin.

Singapore’s final investigation report recorded 56 serious injuries and 23 minor injuries among the 229 people aboard.

Many of the injuries involved passengers’ heads, necks and spines.

The report said the aircraft encountered an updraft followed by powerful changes in vertical acceleration, while the seatbelt sign had been activated only shortly before the most severe turbulence struck.

There was reportedly little time for passengers to react before the aircraft experienced the most violent movements.

HIS WIFE WAS ALSO SERIOUSLY INJURED

Linda Kitchen survived the incident but suffered serious injuries.

She was among the passengers taken to hospital after the aircraft made its emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.

The flight had been traveling from London to Singapore when the crew diverted to Thailand so injured passengers could receive urgent medical treatment.

For the Kitchen family, the flight became a devastating turning point during what had been an international journey.

TWO YEARS LATER, THE INQUEST HAS REACHED ITS CONCLUSION

More than two years after the incident, the inquest has now examined the circumstances surrounding Geoff Kitchen’s death.

The conclusion does not suggest that the turbulence alone created his underlying heart condition.

Instead, the evidence heard by the coroner was that Mr Kitchen had existing coronary artery disease and that the extreme physiological effects of the turbulence precipitated the fatal cardiac event.

The findings come after Singapore’s aviation investigators completed their own detailed examination of the incident.

Their report emphasized that passengers wearing seatbelts remain significantly better protected during severe turbulence.

A FLIGHT THAT CHANGED HUNDREDS OF LIVES

SQ321 became one of the most serious turbulence incidents involving a commercial passenger aircraft in recent years.

One passenger died.

Dozens were seriously injured.

And for Geoff Kitchen’s family, the consequences have continued long after the aircraft landed safely in Bangkok.

The final inquest finding now provides an official account of how the turbulence contributed to the 73-year-old’s death — a tragic reminder of how quickly conditions inside a passenger aircraft can change when severe turbulence strikes.