A passenger onboard the turbulent Singapore Airlines flight that left a British grandfather dead has heartbreakingly revealed he suffered six neck and spine fractures.
Bradley Richards, 29, said he was knocked unconscious and woke up with blood pouring out his head after Flight SQ321, from London to Singapore, hit turbulence over Myanmar.
Another passenger, Geoff Kitchen, 73, from Thornbury, near Bristol, died from a suspected heart attack while many more were left with injuries as the plane dropped 178ft in just 4.6 seconds and suffered a rapid change in G-force.
Mr Richards, a telecoms engineer from Benfleet, Essex, described the experience as like ‘something out of a movie – and fears that he will no longer be able to continue his line of work after suffering life-changing injuries.
After using a pillow to stem the blood flow, he says he ‘immediately felt spinal pain’ and had to be lifted into a wheelchair when the plane landed in Bangkok.
Bradley Richards (pictured), 29, was knocked unconscious and woke up with blood pouring out his head after Flight SQ321, from London to Singapore, hit turbulence over Myanmar
The May 21 flight on a Boeing 777-300ER plane carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew diverted to Bangkok for an emergency landing after the plane was buffeted by turbulence
Musical theatre director Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, was tragically killed after suffering a suspected heart attack
Early findings by The Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) show that the plane experienced a rapid change in acceleration upwards and downwards causing injuries to those without seatbelts on.
Mr Richards said: ‘I was asleep or I think I might have been knocked unconscious when it happened.
‘I remember waking up and my head was just pouring with blood, kids were screaming, people running around everywhere, it was so frantic.
‘It was like something out of a movie.
‘I remember I felt the back pain straight away and blood was just pouring from my head.
‘I tried to use my cushion to stem the blood – one of the ones they hand out for on the flights.
‘Once we landed, I was near the back of the plane and I remember the medical staff running on and having to step over all the injured people on the floor.
‘They couldn’t get a stretcher to me so I was supported off the plane.
‘I told them about my spinal pain and the workers had to pick me up, support me under my armpits and carry me to a wheelchair.
Singapore Airlines said it acknowledged the report and was cooperating fully with the investigation
The plane was buffeted by turbulence that flung passengers and crew around the cabin
‘I guess they couldn’t fit a stretcher right down the back because of the people on the floor or they might not have picked up on it due to all the chaos happening.
‘I was just a bit quiet in the aftermath, to be honest – it all felt so surreal. I didn’t scream or anything.
‘It was just all so traumatic. When I came round and saw people on the floor, being stretchered – like I say, it felt like something from a movie, not real life.’
Doctors have told Mr Richards it’s unlikely he’ll able to return to work in his current role as an engineer.
He said: ‘It’s just gutting – I’ve worked in that role for seven years and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.’
Mr Richards has been receiving treatment in a hospital in Bangkok and is currently unsure when he’ll be able to return to the UK.
He suffered multiple fractures to the spine and neck, a spinal epidural hematoma and a laceration to his head requiring 20 stitches.
He said: ‘It’s not been pleasant I can assure you that, but I try my best to remain positive and the airline and hospital have been so good to me the health care is second to none.’
At the time of writing, he has raised £3,570 on GoFundMe to help pay for ‘expenses related to the injury not covered by Singapore Airlines or any other third parties on return home to the UK’.
The TSIB preliminary investigation findings reveal that the plane dropped 178ft (54m) in just four seconds.
The agency says the likely caused the injuries to the crew and passengers.
The Boeing 777-300ER plane carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew diverted to Bangkok for an emergency landing after the plane was buffeted by turbulence that flung passengers and crew around the cabin, slamming some into the ceiling.
‘The aircraft experienced a rapid change in G (gravitational force). This likely resulted in the occupants who were not belted up to become airborne,’ the Singapore Transport Ministry said in a statement.
‘The vertical acceleration changed from negative 1.5G to positive 1.5G within 4 seconds. This likely resulted in the occupants who were airborne to fall back down,’ it said, citing information extracted from the flight data and cockpit voice recorders.
‘The rapid changes in G over the 4.6 seconds duration resulted in an altitude drop of 178 ft, from 37,362 ft to 37,184 ft. This sequence of events likely caused the injuries to the crew and passengers,’ it added.