Singapore Airlines on Tuesday announced it's offering compensation to passengers who experienced severe turbulence on a May flight from London to Singapore that injured dozens of passengers and caused one fatality.
The flight, carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew, hit sudden turbulence that flung people and objects around the cabin, resulting in spine, brain, bone, and organ injuries. A 73-year-old man reportedly died of a heart attack.
The deadly turbulence incident on the Singapore Airlines flight is just a glimpse into the future of air travel. As the climate changes, turbulence is expected to become 2-3 times more likely in the Atlantic. Additionally, the number of planes in the skies will only grow making it a challenge to find a flight path without rough air. This will force aviation experts to focus on changes to the in-cabin experience for passengers to provide additional safety for unexpected events.
Air travel can be unpredictable and in rare circumstances can result in injury or trauma to air travelers. Even so, Singapore Airlines, with great sincerity, has apologized for the incident that occurred in May and has gone above and beyond the industry standard for compensation. This is a company that is doing its due diligence to support customers affected by this serious incident.