A British Airways (BA) flight taking off from Singapore to London had to turn back to Changi Airport after a bout of “severe turbulence” resulted in injuries to several crew members on board.
Flight BA12 took off from Singapore at 11pm on Thursday (15 June) but had to turn back around four hours later due to turbulence.
It caused the aircraft to fall several feet before flying back up, scaring passengers.
Source: YouTube
In the resulting turbulence, an in-flight team member had a concussion, while another dislocated their ankle.
According to The Sun, a crew member was still in hospital and required surgery.
BA said due to “a rare episode of severe turbulence”, the aircraft returned to Singapore as a precaution.
The plane was apparently above the Bay of Bengal when there was “severe and sustained turbulence”, a source told The Sun.
“The airline has not experienced anything like this in the last five years,” said the source.
The plane dropped five feet and rose again in uncomfortable jerked motions. There were screams from the passengers, and great upset spread through the cabins.
Though the ‘fasten seatbelt’ signs were on, the crew was still going about performing their duties.
However, this resulted in them being thrown around, the source said.
Five crew members reportedly were injured — three of them suffered serious injuries.
Because of the injuries, the captain returned to Singapore and successfully landed at Changi Airport at 3am on Friday (16 June).
“Such was the severity of the conditions that the passengers were totally understanding,” the source continued.
“There was not a peep of protest. Everyone was just glad to make it.”
Following the Boeing 777-300ER’s landing, the mainframe was examined for possible damage.
It eventually flew back to London empty.
Meanwhile, passengers were offered hotel accommodation and rebooked for later flights.
As of 17 June, one crew member was reportedly still in hospital in Singapore, while most of the other crew returned to the United Kingdom on commercial flights.
BA had dispatched a team to Singapore to check on the crew’s condition, while other staff were deployed to replacement services.
In response to MS News’ queries, a BA spokesperson said it is looking after its crew.
“Safety is always our priority,” a spokesperson said, noting the incident on the flight was a rare case of severe turbulence.
“Our highly trained team on board reassured customers, and the aircraft returned to Singapore as a precaution.”
“We’ve apologised to customers for the delay to their flight and provided them with hotel accommodation and information on their consumer rights,” the spokesperson added.
BA said it is also rebooking customers on the next available flights with them, as well as other airlines.
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Featured image adapted from AirlinesFleet.com.
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