The interior of Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 is pictured after an emergency landing at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thailand on May 21, 2024. LONDON: Tens of thousands of flights take off and land without incident every day, all around the world. So when something tragic does happen, the world’s eyes become glued to the story - especially if it reveals the deadly side ofen route to Singapore from London on Tuesday .
At its mildest, an aircraft may only experience slight erratic changes in altitude, but at the severe end, turbulence can cause large abrupt changes in altitude and angle of the plane. Extreme turbulence could even cause structural damage to the body of the aircraft, though modern planes are built to withstand a lot.
In April, a man broke his leg as he returned from the toilet when an Air New Zealand flight to Auckland from Bali hit some turbulence and suddenly “dropped”. It therefore is the sort of thing that might keep a pilot up at night - and it’s been getting worse. ‘Everything happened really in a flash’: How one man stayed safe amid extreme turbulence on SIA flight SQ321
A 2021 report from the National Transportation Safety Board made 24 recommendations aimed at reducing the incidence of turbulence accidents and associated injuries, including having flight attendants - who are seriously injured more often than passengers - be seated and belted earlier during the descent phase.