A passenger on a Singapore Airlines flight that flew through extreme turbulence, leading to one death and dozens of injuries, recalled his tense experience to CNN on Tuesday.
Andrew Davies was one of 211 passengers on the flight that took off from London bound for Singapore, but was forced to to land in Bangkok, Thailand. The BBC reported that a 73-year-old British man likely suffered a heart attack, and 53 passengers were injured—among whom 30 were hospitalized. Davies didn’t say whether he had been injured, but OutFront anchor Erin Burnett began the interview by saying she was glad he was OK.
Davies said it was about nine or 10 hours into the flight when he saw the seatbelt sign illuminate, which prompted him to do as advised.
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“Thank goodness I did, because within moments of doing that all hell broke loose. The plane just felt like it had dropped. It probably only lasted a few seconds, but I remember vividly seeing shoes and iPads and iPhones and cushions and blankets and cookware and plates and cups flying through the air and crashing into the ceiling,” he said. “The gentleman next to me had a cup of coffee which went straight all over me and up to the ceiling.”
As the turbulence grew weaker, he said, he began to chat with the man next to him before realizing the gravity of the situation.
“I looked over my shoulder and saw the people sitting behind me with a lady who had a big gash in her head and blood pouring down her face. Then as we know, a gentleman passed away and that gentleman was sitting right behind me,” he said.
“So I got up and obviously lots of people needed some help, and we tended to this gentleman and I helped him get him out of the seat and we lay him on the floor so that some medical professions could could administer CPR…for at least 20 minutes,” said Davies, who added later that the other passenger beside him was the deceased man’s wife.
Once the plane landed, about 20 medics came on board and tended to the injured, Davies recalled.
Singapore Airlines, in a statement, gave its condolences to the deceased man’s family and apologized “for the traumatic experience that our passengers and crew members suffered on this flight.”
