Five British Airways crew members aboard a flight from Singapore to London were injured after the plane was hit by severe turbulence on Friday morning.
One of the crew members was hurt so seriously that he required surgery on his ankle and femur, while another crew member suffered an ankle dislocation, reported British newspaper the Daily Mail.
According to data from flight tracker FlightAware, Flight BA12 left Changi Airport at 11.16pm on Thursday, and was originally scheduled to arrive in London at about 6am (London time) on Friday. It landed in Singapore instead at about 4am on Friday after turning back following the turbulence.
A source told British tabloid The Sun that the plane was above the Bay of Bengal when “severe and sustained turbulence struck”, adding that the airline has not experienced anything like this in the last five years.
“It’s an area where winds often make flying uncomfortable, but the severity of this turbulence was obscene,” said the source.
“From nowhere, the plane was shaking as it suddenly dropped (1.53m) and rose again in uncomfortable jerked motions. There were screams from the passengers and great upset spread through the cabins.”
British national Jade Crosland, who was on board the flight with her partner and two young children, told the news outlet she felt the plane go into “free fall” about three hours into the flight.
Ms Crosland, 31, said as she stood up to strap her daughter in after the seatbelt sign came on, she felt the plane drop and saw a cabin crew member get knocked out by a trolley which hit him in the head.
She added that “everyone flew up in the air, everyone was screaming”, and the shaking of the plane caused food trays to “fly everywhere across the cabin”.
Another passenger, Mr Tom Owens, told the Daily Mail that he saw a crew member fly into the air and injure his ankle, with his foot at a 90-degree angle to his leg.
A British Airways spokesman said in response to queries from The Straits Times that the incident was a “rare episode of severe turbulence” and that the airline was looking after its crew.
“We’ve apologised to customers for the delay to their flight and provided them with hotel accommodation and information on their consumer rights,” said the spokesman, who added that the plane returned to Singapore as a precaution.
“We’re rebooking customers onto the next available flights with us and other airlines.”
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
