The preliminary finding of the investigation released today into the Singapore Airlines flight that fell into severe turbulence last week showed that a rapid change in gravity and a fall from a height of 54 meters caused the injuries.
A 73-year-old British passenger died, possibly from stalling, and dozens of others were injured when flight SQ321 from London to Singapore hit what the airline described as excessive and sudden turbulence while flying over Myanmar.
The May 21 flight of a Boeing 777-300ER with 211 passengers and 18 crew members eventually headed to Bangkok where it made an emergency landing. "The airplane encountered a sudden change in G (gravitational force) ... This likely resulted in the occupants not wearing seat belts being ejected," the Department of Transportation said in a statement about the Transportation Safety Board's report.
“The vertical acceleration went from negative 1.5G to positive 1.5G within four seconds. This resulted in passengers who had been hurled to the ceiling landing on the floor," the same source said, citing information obtained from flight data and cockpit voice recorders.
“Rapid changes in G over 4,6 seconds resulted in a 178 ft (54 m) drop, from 37.362 ft to 37.184 ft. This sequence of events likely caused the injuries to the crew and passengers," it added. Singapore Airlines said it would cooperate fully with the investigation: "We are committed to supporting those on board that day on flight SQ321 as well as their families and loved ones," it said in a statement today.
Late last night the airline said 45 people on the flight were still in Bangkok, including 28 who were being treated. The preliminary report states that when the flight encountered light turbulence, there was an uncommanded increase in altitude that resulted in the autopilot taking the aircraft down. The pilots experienced an increase in airspeed and reacted by applying the airbrakes.
"While managing airspeed...it was learned that a pilot called out that the 'Tether' indicator had come on." The research team is made up of Singaporean researchers, Boeing representatives and US officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Singapore's Ministry of Transport said an investigation was ongoing.
Source: protothema.gr
