IIt will likely take a long time for passengers and the air travel industry to recover from the shock of last week’s Singapore Airlines flight, which experienced turbulence that led to one death and dozens being hospitalized, but most of the damage was done in less time. five seconds, according to a preliminary investigation by Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau.
A summary of initial survey findings released on Wednesday revealed that a severe change gravitational force, which took just 4.6 seconds and resulted in 178 feet. drop in altitude, “probably caused injuries to the crew and passengers”.
Flight SQ321 traveling from London to Singapore on May 20, carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew, was flying normally until it passed over southern Myanmar at an altitude of 37,000 feet and began to feel “slight vibration”.
For about 19 seconds, while the aircraft encountered this initial turbulence likely caused by an updraft, it climbed “without command” about 362 feet, which the “autopilot” attempted to correct by pitching the plane downward. At the same time, the pilots, the report said, observed an “uncommanded” increase in airspeed, to which they responded by extending the speed brakes. The report adds that, at this moment, “a pilot was heard shouting that the fasten seat belt sign was on”.
About eight seconds later, the plane experienced a “rapid change” in gravitational force (G) as the recorded vertical acceleration decreased from +1.35G to -1.5G in the span of 0.6 seconds. “This likely resulted in the occupants not being strapped in to fly,” the report stated.
Over the next 4 seconds, the gravitational force changed again from -1.5G to +1.5G, which the report said “likely resulted in the airborne occupants falling.” At the end of the 4.6 second period of dramatic changes in G, the plane dropped to an altitude of 37,184 feet.
The pilots attempted to stabilize the aircraft, which continued to experience more, although less severe, turbulence, by “disengaging the autopilot” and “controlling it manually” for 21 seconds before the plane returned to normal altitude, about a minute after the turbulence. initial has been found. .
About 17 minutes later, after it became clear that there were injuries that needed medical attention, the pilots began the plane’s descent for an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand. As of Wednesday, 42 passengers who were on board the flight were still in Bangkok, including 26 who were still receiving treatment in hospital, Singapore Airlines said in a statement. declaration.
Investigations are ongoing. In a separate declarationSingapore Airlines, which previously announced it is reviewing its in-flight seat belt policy, said it “acknowledges” the transport safety department’s preliminary findings and is “fully cooperating” with all relevant authorities.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
