Severe turbulence on flight from Singapore to Guangzhou in China: 7 injured

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A Scoot airline flight from Singapore to Guangzhou in southern China encountered severe turbulence on Friday, injuring seven people.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, carrying an unknown number of passengers and crew, encountered turbulence while approaching Guangzhou in Guangdong province, injuring four passengers and three crew members.

One passenger was taken to hospital, Scoot said in a statement.

“We can confirm that four passengers and three crew members received medical attention immediately upon arrival in Guangzhou. At 8:30 p.m. local time (September 6), one passenger was admitted to hospital for further observation,” Scoot said.

The airline said the well-being of passengers and cabin crew is its priority and that it will provide the necessary support and assistance to those affected.

Photos obtained by Chinese news outlet from Singapore 8world showed how the airport emergency personnel helped injured passengers and crew.

Scoot flight TR100 departed Singapore at around 5:45 a.m. and landed in Guangzhou at 9:10 a.m. local time “without incident,” the Strait times, with reference to data from the website FlightRadar24, which records flights.

Data from the website indicated that the plane, which was flying at 20,000 feet (6,000 m) at a speed of about 500 knots, suddenly dropped in altitude and speed before returning to its original flight path.

The incident follows severe turbulence on a Singapore Airlines flight in May, which left one person dead and several injured.

A 73-year-old British man died of a heart attack while seven people were seriously injured when passengers on the flight were dramatically thrown into the air after the plane was forced to descend 6,000 feet in minutes due to weather conditions, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing in Thailand.

In a similar incident, a Turkish Airlines flight departing from Istanbul to Taipei encountered severe turbulence on September 5, injuring two crew members and five passengers, two of whom were taken to hospital for treatment.

According to a 2021 study by the National Transportation Safety Board, turbulence-related crashes are the most common type of accident.

According to the agency, turbulence was the cause of more than a third of reported plane crashes between 2009 and 2018. Most of the crashes resulted in one or more serious injuries, but no damage to the aircraft.

A recent BBC study found that planes encounter moderate to severe turbulence approximately 68,000 times a year.

The Independent Scoot has asked for comment.