Preliminary findings reveal fatal turbulence incident over Burma
The Transport Safety Investigation Bureau of Singapore has released preliminary findings concerning the events on board Singapore Airlines' Boeing 777-300ER. "This likely resulted in the occupants who were not belted up to become airborne," the report reads.
The Transport Safety Investigation Bureau of Singapore prepared a preliminary report on the events on board Singapore Airlines' Boeing 777-300ER. It was posted on Wednesday, May 29, on the official website of the local Ministry of Transport. The conclusions were drawn based on the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recordings.
According to the report cited by the TVN 24 portal, on May 21 at approximately 3:49:21 AM (Eastern Time), the plane flying over southern Burma likely found itself in an area of developing convective activity. The onboard instruments recorded an unintended altitude increase in the aircraft, which the autopilot corrected. At 3:49:32 AM, the pilot signalled for the seatbelt sign. Soon after, drama struck.
At 3:49:40 AM (Eastern Time), a sudden G-force change occurred in the plane (...). Likely, this caused passengers who were not wearing seat belts to be lifted into the air, according to the report authors.
In the next second, another alteration occurred, causing passengers who were just recently airborne to fall. - Analysts report that the sudden G-force changes within 4.6 seconds caused an altitude drop of 18 meters (approximately 5 meters), from 11,388 meters to 11,331 meters. It appears that the abrupt altitude drop and associated G-forces led to the death of one passenger and injuries to dozens of people.
This is how the pilots of the plane reacted to the turbulence
During the turbulence, the pilots attempted to stabilize the flight. They turned off the autopilot and switched to manual control, which they did for 21 seconds. After receiving information about injured passengers onboard, the decision was made to divert the plane to Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand. Medical services were called to the scene.
The accounts of passengers who left the plane were horrifying. "The plane just felt like it dropped. It probably only lasted a few seconds, but I remember vividly seeing shoes and iPads and iPhones and cushions and blankets (...). The gentleman next to me had a cup of coffee, which went straight all over me and up to the ceiling," said Andrew Davies, a passenger on the dramatic flight. Reuters, citing information provided by Singapore Airlines, indicates that 26 injured passengers are still in the hospital.
