Singapore flight turbulence tragedy

[Freespirit44]

Posting for traffic.

Since I have heard the news I am absolutely terrified.

I am a VERY anxious flyer. For this reason I haven't flown in over seven years.

The news of this tragedy has triggered me as i have a short haul flight next week from the UK.

Anyone else feel the same?

Is there a link to this please, not seen this story, sounds terrifying

Forget previous post, just found it. Sounds like it happened really quickly. How frightening.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/singapore-airlines-british-man-73-dies-after-flight-from-heathrow-hits-extreme-turbulence/ar-BB1mLJPM?ocid=BingNewsSerp

I don't fly very often but when I do I always keep my seatbelt on. I never use the loo so no need to undo the belt

A little question for people who are flight crew, if they wouldn’t mind answering. Do the pilots keep their seat belts on throughout the flight, so that they wouldn’t be affected if this happens?

@Confortableorwhat

So people keep saying, but funnily enough I think the sudden 6000ft drop might have had something to do with the heart attack.

@Freespirit44 please try not to spiral. It's because it's so incredibly rare, that it's made the news. Flying is SO much safer than driving, or taking the train/bus.

I’ve done this Singapore to London flight quite a few times and it is LONG, for those who say they always leave their seatbelt on when flying and never go to the loo!

Long like nearly 14 hours.

Similar, although not as bad, happened to my grandparents in the 1980's- so 40yrs ago. They hit dead air and the plane suddenly dropped. My grandfather was seated with his belt on. The stewardess who was walking past flew up to the ceiling, but he grabbed her and pulled her down before she hit her head! Incredibly rare and this is the 1st case I've heard of in those 40yrs.

OP- most airports/airlines run anxious flyer courses which might help you.

https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/travel-assistance/flying-with-confidence

https://www.fearlessflyer.easyjet.com/about-course/courses.php?s=gatwick#.U-ImGONdWuI

https://www.hypnotherapy-directory.org.uk/articles/fearofflying.html

Perfectly reasonable response to a horrible event.

As others have said ALWAYS keep your seat belt on - you don't have to have as tight as you would for take off and landing, slacken it off but keep it on at all times. I am always dismayed when I hear all the click, click clicks of folk taking theirs off as soon as the seatbelt sign goes off, it really can save your life if you use it right.

No it hasn't put me off. I was actually on a flight last night which was pretty turbulent but I still enjoy flying and it is one of the safest ways to travel. The only reason this awful tragedy is making the news is that these things so rarely happen. Think how many car accidents happen all over the world every single minute of every day

I heard all flight crew injured to some extent (Times) & 2 deaths so far (?)

When you consider the thousands of flights that take place daily, and how few have an issue - it's more dangerous to travel in a car.

Statistically with climate change now increasingly a factor aren’t certain routes more problematic?

Also, do they immediately service planes after these sorts of incidents? Stress fractures etc? Prob spent too long watching those plane crash investigations.

Only one death, the poor British man.

31 injured enough to go to hospital, six of them critically. Others have more minor injuries.

That's out of 211 passengers and 18 crew

That level of flight turbulence is pretty rare but does happen. For that reason, I always keep by seat belt fastened but just loosen it a little for more comfort. Enough that I can slide my hand under the seat belt. A good idea to do if you're trying to sleep anyway as the cabin crew don't have to wake you up to tell you to fasten it if necessary mid-flight.

@Chersfrozenface that’s shocking, thank you.

I flew long haul to East Asia frequently. It doesn’t put me off. There are many flights and this make the news because it’s so rare. You don’t hear people dying in car accidents making the news.

Whilst is a tragedy, a horrible thing to have happened, don't forget that this is also a rare occasion. Whilst people may get bumped at times, and slight injuries, from turbulence it is very unusual for these to be significant in this way.

Turbulence does happen on flights. It's not particularly nice. However, in the vast majority of cases, outside of such unusual circumstances, you can reduce your risk by keeping your seat belt fastened whenever seated,

I’m another one who always keeps the seatbelt, on but I’ve flown I’ve flown long haul 3 times in the last year and short hall a couple of times and have barely had a bump so I think it’s pretty rare to get bad turbulence…It does sound bloody terrifying though.

I think it must have been a very very bad turbulence to have that many injured. I wouldn’t minimise it with just wear a seat belt. But it is a very rare occurrence.

They dropped thousands of feet. It sounds horrendous

Yes this this!

I used to fly from the UK to Australia via Singapore about once a year before covid. never gave it a thought - but then after covid I developed an extreme fear. I had to go to Australia for family reasons.

I was told about the jelly trick and it fixed me. We had a fair bit of turbulence over the java Sea which lasted a good 40 minutes and I actually read and dozed through it without issues.

Edited to add- yes occasionally extreme turbulence happens but it is so rare it makes the news. On this occasion the poor man tragically died and that is an awful tragedy. But thankfully very very rare.

Same. I loosen it a bit but leave it fastened.

@SpringBunnies does turbulence like this weaken a plane & with climate change making events like this less rare is potentially weakened infrastructure a possibility I wonder?

He had a heart attack. I would’ve had a heart attack as I hate turbulence.

But it’s an extremely rare event for turbulence to be this bad. Plus, you’re probably unlikely to encounter extreme tropical storms on a short flight from the UK. 😬

Keep your seatbelt on and consider this incident has reduced the odds of it happening again any time soon.

YAB very understandably U OP, for everything said above. Mercifully, it is very rare.

Terrifying for those on board though. I think if I were one of them I would be setting up home in Bangkok, as god himself wouldn't get me back on a plane.