In a harrowing incident aboard a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore last month, a British passenger sustained life-altering injuries due to severe turbulence as the aircraft traversed the airspace above Myanmar. Bradley Richards, a 29-year-old engineer, suffered six fractures to his spine and neck along with internal bleeding, an ordeal that has left him uncertain of his ability to continue in his current profession.
While Richards miraculously survived the chaotic event that left passengers and crew in panic, another British national, 73-year-old Geoff Kitchen from Thornbury, Bristol, tragically succumbed to what is believed to have been a heart attack amid the turbulence. Recounting the nightmare, Richards described waking up to a scene reminiscent of a disaster film, with blood pouring from his head and the sound of screams filling the cabin.
After the flight made an emergency landing in Bangkok, Richards was one of the passengers escorted off in a wheelchair due to the lack of accessibility to stretchers. Medical staff had to navigate an aircraft aisle obstructed by injured passengers on the floor.
Since the incident, medical professionals have advised the Essex-based telecoms engineer that his path to recovery may require a career change. Preliminary findings from the ongoing investigation into the turbulent flight suggest that a rapid alteration in the aircraft’s acceleration led to an abrupt descent of nearly 200 feet in under four seconds, endangering passengers who were not wearing seatbelts at the time.
Source: Metro.co.uk