Passenger Dies After London-Singapore Flight Hits Turbulence
A British man, aged 73, has died from a suspected cardiac arrest after a Singapore Airlines flight from London's Heathrow to Singapore encountered 'sudden extreme turbulence' on Tuesday....
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Facts
- A British man, aged 73, has died from a suspected cardiac arrest after a Singapore Airlines flight from London's Heathrow to Singapore encountered 'sudden extreme turbulence' on Tuesday.1
- The pilot declared a medical emergency and diverted the Boeing 777-300ER to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport, landing about 10 hours after its departure.2
- The nearby hospital that treated the injured said that at least 71 people had been sent for care, with six severely injured.3
- The wife of the deceased passenger was reportedly among those admitted to hospital. There were 211 passengers — mainly from Australia, the UK, Singapore, New Zealand and Malaysia — and 18 crew on board.4
- This is the second fatal incident in the history of Singapore Airlines, which is often considered among the world's best carriers. Images from the aftermath showed parts of the plane hanging from the ceiling, and food scattered across the floor.5
- While turbulence, or air movement during flights caused by heavy storms or changes in atmospheric pressure, does cause injuries to people not wearing seatbelts, deaths are far less common — especially on commercial flights.6
Sources: 1Sky News, 2Bangkokpost, 3CNN, 4BBC News, 5Business Insider and 6Forbes.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by Euronews. Turbulence-related deaths may be extremely rare, but this tragic mid-air incident must serve as a warning that severe clean-air turbulence has become more frequent and intense with climate change. As the atmosphere warms, the skies get bumpier. If climate change continues, air travel will become costlier and more dangerous.
- Narrative B, as provided by The Daily Sceptic. Climate change has long been a general scapegoat for mainstream media outlets, so it's hardly a surprise that they have quickly jumped to use the tragic death of an elderly passenger from a heart attack during this flight turbulence to support their bad faith alarmism. Climate change does not aggravate turbulence on flights.
