SQ321 crew members checked on us despite own injuries: Passenger on turbulence-hit Singapore Airlines flight
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Briton Josh Silverstone, a passenger on Singapore Airlines Flight SQ321 who was injured following extreme turbulence during the flight, at Bangkok's Samitivej Hospital on May 22.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SINGAPORE – A passenger on Singapore Airlines Flight SQ321 on May 21
In an interview with British news outlet Sky News, British national Josh Silverstone said: “I remember waking up on the floor and just listening to people crying, looking around and seeing blood; seeing the ceiling falling through and things like that.
“It was pretty alarming. There was a lady in front of me, kind of elderly; she couldn’t move. She didn’t remember her name. She didn’t know why she was on the flight.”
Mr Silverstone, 24, added that he saw a member of the cabin crew who had been scalded by hot water as breakfast was being served at the time of the incident.
“There were many other crew members who were bleeding as well, walking around checking that everyone’s okay,” he said.
The flight, which had departed London’s Heathrow Airport for Singapore on May 21, experienced extreme turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin around 10 hours after departure.
The aircraft, a Boeing 777-300ER, carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members, was then diverted to Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport for an emergency landing.
Of the 211 passengers, 41 were Singaporeans, with the remaining 170 from countries such as Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Britain.
One passenger – Briton Geoffrey Kitchen – died
Mr Silverstone told Sky News he had used the aircraft’s Wi-Fi to contact his mother.
He said: “I didn’t want to be too alarming and scare them, so I messaged her something like ‘On a bit of a crazy flight. Having an emergency landing. I love you’.”
He said that he suffered a cut and bruising on his face, as well as a chipped tooth.
Mr Silverstone added that he was unsure if he had put on his seatbelt tightly as he had wound up on the cabin floor after the turbulence.
“I could barely walk and I started throwing up as well,” he said.
The incident, he said, has put him off flying.
“I’ve still got to finish my holiday, so I won’t be completely done with flying, and I’ve got to go home. But after that, I think maybe I’ll be going to Paris or Amsterdam by train. Maybe some short flights, but definitely no long-haul flights for a while,” Mr Silverstone said.
At about 5am on May 22, 131 passengers and 12 crew members were flown back
