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22 hours ago<\/time><\/p>\n\n
Kelly Ng & Hannah Ritchie,<\/span>in Singapore and Sydney<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWatch: Keith Davis recounts moment turbulence left his wife \u2018immobile\u2019<\/figcaption><\/p>\n\n
When Eva Khoo got a phone call last week saying that the Singapore Airlines flight her family was on had \u201cmet with an incident\u201d, she was told not to worry.<\/p>\n
But hours after the plane had made an emergency landing in Bangkok, the 47-year-old still could not reach her brother and pregnant sister-in-law who were on board the Singapore-bound flight from London, along with a friend and four others in their family.<\/p>\n
When she finally heard from her brother late that night, it was a single phrase: ICU.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we stopped hearing from him. That made me even more anxious,\u201d she told the BBC in a phone interview. She then heard from her sister-in-law, who told her she was in the hospital but did not know where everyone else was.<\/p>\n
The \u201cunexpected severe turbulence\u201d which hit the aircraft had left one passenger dead mid-air and nearly 50 others, including two crew members and a toddler, in hospital, many with serious injuries. More than 20 were admitted to intensive care with spinal injuries.<\/p>\n
Tuesday night was \u201cnerve-wracking\u201d, Ms Khoo says. \u201cWe had no idea if our loved ones were dead or alive, or how bad their injuries were.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next day, she found out all seven were hospitalised in Bangkok. Five of them were in the intensive care unit at the Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital.<\/p>\n
She decided to fly to Thailand from Kuala Lumpur, where she lives. \u201cI was relieved when I finally got to meet them, but it was dreadful to see many of them clad in neck and head braces because of their spinal and back injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would take her another few days to finally ask what exactly had happened on board the flight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018It was like going down a vertical roller coaster\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n
Khoo Boo Leong and his wife Saw Rong were returning from a two-week trip to Switzerland and London. Singapore was meant to be a transit stop en route to home in Malaysia. The flight – which had 211 passengers and 18 crew on board – was into the tenth hour of its journey, passing over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar when turbulence struck.<\/p>\n
Ms Khoo says her brother remembers that the plane started shaking. \u201cHe scrambled to find his seatbelt, but before he could do anything he was hoisted to the ceiling. He hit the overhead luggage compartment and then a few seconds later he flopped onto the aisle. Their belongings were strewn all over,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Eva Khoo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nEva Khoo (bottom right) has five friends and family who ended up in intensive care after the flight<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n\n
He and his wife were sitting close to the centre of the plane. Ms Saw, who is two months pregnant, was flung out of her seat. The impact resulted in fractures to her back, which required surgery.<\/p>\n
Rows ahead, Keith Davis, who was on board with his wife Kerry Jordan, recalled being thrown into a \u201czero-gravity situation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were launched into space hurtling towards the ceiling. It felt as though we were floating,\u201d said Mr Davis, who spoke to the BBC from the hospital in Bangkok. He had a black eye and his head was bandaged.<\/p>\n
\u201c[We] were suspended in complete shock and disbelief looking at everything floating around. And then the next moment, your awareness is that you’re hurtling straight back down… It was absolutely horrific,\u201d said the 59-year-old Australian.<\/p>\n
Ms Jordan, 52, was thrown onto the aisle. The impact on her spine was so great that she had to lie there for the rest of the journey, even as the plane landed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI leant over her and asked \u2018Are you okay\u2019? She was able to speak quite softly\u2026 And then I\u2019m thinking \u2018Oh my God, I\u2019m dripping blood all over her dress\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ms Jordan still had in her hand a piece of the seatbelt, he recalled. \u201cThe girl behind us was crying out in extreme pain. I didn\u2019t know what to do. I just felt absolutely useless,\u201d Mr Davis said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Ali Bukhari, who was seated with his wife Ramiza, said the plane \u201cwent into that straight freefall\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was terrifying. It’s just like going down a vertical roller coaster. Oxygen masks had all come out, parts of the interior of the plane were damaged\u2026 I thought that was from the force of the turbulence but a lot of it was just because everyone who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt flew right into the air and hit the ceiling,\u201d said the 27-year-old Australian, who was speaking to the BBC from Sydney.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw blood on the ceiling\u2026 It was just complete havoc. A lot of people were on the floor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Bukhari and his wife weren\u2019t as badly injured because they were belted up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve always taken my seatbelt off when the seatbelt lights are off. But just by chance, I don’t know why, I just had it at this time,\u201d Mr Bhukari said. Still, they were \u201cmentally prepared that we were going to die\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ms Bukhari, who has long had a fear of flying, was having a panic attack.<\/p>\n
Mr Bukhari said: \u201cI just spent my time keeping my wife as calm as possible\u2026 We started reciting as many prayers as we could.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Ali Bukhari<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nAli Bukhari said he and his wife Ramiza \u201cmentally prepared that we were going to die\u201d<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n\n
After a few minutes, the pilot made an announcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018We’re not sure what happened. But it looks like we underwent a turbulence event, it was unexpected\u2019. He definitely sounded quite shaken.\u201d Other crew members \u201clooked quite beaten up\u201d as they limped back and forth to help injured passengers, he recalled.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mr Davis\u2019 seatmate Toby Pearl, from Wales, was providing CPR to a passenger who was unconscious. Unfortunately, the 73-year-old British man, Geoff Kitchen, remained unresponsive and later died from a suspected heart attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n