Singapore Airlines CEO apologises for mid-air turbulence


Singapore: Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong issued a statement where he apologised to passengers that underwent a traumatic experience as its Flight SQ321 was flying from London’s Heathrow airport to Singapore, with 211 passengers and 18 crew members aboard, when it hit turbulence Tuesday, bashing people around inside the plane.

“We are very sorry for the traumatic experience that everyone on board SQ321 went through,” Goh said in a video on social media. He said the airline was providing all necessary support and pledged it would fully cooperate in investigations.

The Boeing 777 descended 6,000 feet (around 1,800 metres) in about three minutes, Singapore Airlines said in a statement Tuesday.

FlightRadar24 citing tracking data showed that the flight was initially cruising at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,300 metres), but at one point the Boeing 777-300ER suddenly and sharply descended to 31,000 feet (9,400 metres) over about three minutes. The aircraft then remained at 31,000 feet (9,400 metres) for under 10 minutes before diverting and landing in Bangkok less than a half-hour later.