Elderly passenger who died in a Singapore Airlines mid-air emergency is fondly recalled at home in Gloucestershire. Geoffrey Ralph Kitchen, 73, passed away during a lifetime holiday with his wife. Following severe turbulence, 73 people were hospitalised in Bangkok. Six of them are in a serious condition.
On Tuesday night, the Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital in Bangkok revealed that 73 people had been hospitalised after Tuesday’s emergency landing by a Singapore Airlines plane at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. The hospital insisted that there had been no further fatalities but did reveal that six patients were in serious condition following the mid-air emergency. At the same time, a close friend and neighbour of the deceased 73-year-old, revealed as Geoffrey Ralph Kitchen, spoke fondly of his friend. Dave Dimond said Mr Kitchen was well known in amateur dramatic circles. Sadly, he and his wife Linda were on the ‘holiday of a lifetime’ when disaster struck out of nowhere in the sky.
The 73-year-old UK man who died in yesterday’s Singapore Airlines turbulence horror has been identified. He is 73-year-old Geoffrey Ralph Kitchen.
Mr Kitchen was travelling to Singapore with his wife on a holiday. Following yesterday’s tragedy, while Mr Kitchen’s body lay covered in the cabin of the Singapore Airlines plane, his wife Linda was among those taken to hospital.
In short, figures released on Tuesday night show a total of 73 people were hospitalised. Seventy-one were taken to Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital in the Suan Luang district of Bangkok. Two were reportedly treated at Bangkok Hospital.
Top hospital treating rescued passengers, denied on Tuesday night, that a passenger died later on Tuesday. However, six are presently in a serious condition
Certainly, on Tuesday night, the respected international hospital denied categorically that a second passenger had passed away. On Tuesday, it was reported that there was a second fatality, significantly at 5:25 pm.
Second passenger on Singapore Airlines flight dies in hospital after Tuesday’s emergency landing incident
However, the hospital did reveal that six of those hospitalised were in serious condition.
Previously on Tuesday, sometime after 3 pm, Singapore Airlines Flight SQ321 plunged suddenly at high altitude. The 7,000-foot drop occurred in 3 minutes. Consequently, many passengers were thrown into the air and hit the overhead area of the cabin with full force.
Chaotic and violent events within the cabin. Passengers jettisoned into the ceiling of the plane as it also lurched from side to side as it hit a storm
Photos from the passengers seated in the plane when medical staff arrived at approximately 4 pm in Bangkok show people bleeding from the head.
Undoubtedly this was an intensely traumatic experience. In short, that is how many passengers described what happened.
The plane, a Boeing 777-300ER jet, touched down at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 3:45 pm.
On Tuesday, speaking with Reuters, 28-year-old Dzafran Azmir described what happened inside the plane.
‘Suddenly the aircraft started tilting up and there was shaking, so I started bracing for what was happening, and very suddenly there was a very dramatic drop so everyone seated and not wearing a seatbelt was launched immediately into the ceiling,’ he recalled. ‘Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it; they hit the places where lights and masks are and broke straight through it.’
The dramatic incident came after 11 hours into the long airplane journey.
Deceased UK man suffered a heart attack as he was tossed from side to side with massive force. Pronounced dead on board before an emergency was declared
The violence and force with which the turbulence struck caused 73-year-old Geoffrey Ralph Kitchen to suffer a heart attack.
Onlookers reported that the man was tossed from side to side as the impact on the inside of the plane was felt.
After that, he was pronounced dead on the plane before the flight crew declared an emergency. Afterwards, the flight began to descend gradually and landed in Bangkok within 30 minutes.
Later, it was revealed that the UK man suffered from a heart condition.
Mr Kitchen’s wife is Linda. The pair were on what they termed the ‘holiday of a lifetime’. Indeed, they had spent the weekend previously with their beloved grandchildren knowing they would not be home for some time.
Satellite imagery shows what happened to flight SQ321
On Wednesday, scientists and weather experts studying satellite imaging determined that the plane hit a freak thunderstorm. Certainly, this explains the massive force of external air on the plane. In turn, it also explains why the plane suffered exterior damage.
The flight had left London’s Heathrow Airport at 10:38 am on Monday. A friend of Mr Kitchen spoke with the UK newspaper The Mirror not long after the shocking news was heard from Bangkok.
73-year-old Dave Dimond from Thornbury, Gloucestershire is the same age as the deceased man and his next-door neighbour.
‘It’s a terrible shock, he was a really nice bloke, they were a lovely couple,’ he disclosed. ‘They were very adventurous and had been planning the holiday for a long time. They spent last weekend with their grandchildren because they wouldn’t be seeing them for a while.’
73-year-old passenger was recalled on Tuesday at home in Gloucestershire as a good neighbour, friend, grandfather and a committed fan of amateur dramatics
Mr Dimond revealed that Mr Kitchen was a thespian. In particular, he was active in amateur dramatic circles.
‘He was very fit and active,’ he pointed out. Afterwards, he said Mr Kitchen was ‘ very involved with amateur dramatics and was helping me make scenery for our new production.’
‘He was a good singer, a fine actor, he was on the committee, he loved musical theatre. He and his wife liked live music, all sorts, folk, jazz, everything.’
On Tuesday night, Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital revealed that there were 39 moderately injured passengers as well as six in serious condition.
In short, among those being treated are four UK nationals, two New Zealanders, two from the United States, three from Malaysia, and one from Ireland.
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