A Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight from London to the Lion City hogged the headlines this week after it suddenly dropped 6,000 feet after running into extreme turbulence over Myanmar, according to reports.
The passengers and crew of Flight SQ321 who were not seatbelted and were lined up for the lavatories or walking in the aisles were violently thrown all over the interior, hitting the ceiling and overhead compartments of the Boeing 777.
Of the 211 passengers and 18 crew, one, a 73-year-old British man, suffered an apparent heart attack and died, while 58 others were badly injured.
The pilot made an emergency landing in Bangkok where the injured were taken to a hospital. The rest of the passengers continued to Singapore in another plane, including unharmed Malaysian student Dzafran Azmir, 28.
Azmir owed his safety to his being buckled in his seat.
“I just don’t unbuckle when the sign says you can unbuckle. I just leave it on,” said Azmir, according to CNA.
In an earlier incident aboard a Southwest Airlines flight, a passenger’s antic was recorded and the video posted on TikTok went viral. The airline said it was investigating the incident.
The flight attendants advised the other passengers to remain in their seats for the duration of the flight with their seatbelts fastened.
F/A Kris Major advised the passengers to notify a crew member, rather than intervene themselves if they witness any untoward or unusual behavior on board like the passenger who was peering out from inside an overhead compartment as shown in the viral TikTok video.
Major warned that the overhead bin is “not a certifiable place to be as a passenger,” CNN reports.
“If we encounter turbulence they could get hurt. If they get blown out they could really get hurt and they could also hurt someone underneath them,” he said, adding that a passenger in an overhead bin also wouldn’t have access to an oxygen mask in the event of an emergency.