A mother whose son was aboard Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 from London to Singapore has revealed the terrifying text message she received as the plane encountered extreme turbulence.
As previously reported, over 70 people were injured and one man tragically died when the flight hit severe and unexpected turbulence.
Footage from inside the plane showed the chaotic aftermath with debris scattered all around the floor of the cabin after the aircraft suddenly dropped around 6,000 feet during a meal service.
One mother, whose son was on board, has shared the chilling message he sent her before the plane made an emergency landing in Bangkok.
Allison Barker, whose son Josh Barker was among the 211 passengers on board, revealed that he'd sent a panic-stricken text message from the air.
The turbulence occurred around 10 hours into the flight, and he managed to send a single text message to his mother, reading: "I don’t want to scare you, but I’m on a crazy flight. The plane is making an emergency landing … I love you all."
Alison told the BBC that receiving such a message was "petrifying", adding: "It was terrifying. I didn’t know what was going on."
They then had an agonizing wait to see if their son, who had been on his way to Bali via Singapore, was OK.
She added: "We didn’t know whether he’d survived, it was so nerve-wracking. It was the longest two hours of my life. It was awful; it was petrifying."
While Josh was thankfully alive, Allison revealed that he is in "a lot of pain" after having sustained injuries to his teeth, and she fears he will be left with lasting trauma from the scary incident.
Tragically, 73-year-old Geoff Kitchen died after the incident, with preliminary reports claiming he suffered a heart attack on board.
Over 70 others were injured and several needed medical attention after the plane suddenly dropped around 6,000 feet in altitude, causing items to be thrown around the cabin.
Pictures and videos from inside the plane showed the cabin in disarray and a flight attendant appearing to have a bloody nose.
The plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok where those that needed medical attention were taken to hospital, while others were taken to Singapore on a relief flight.
The plane, which was heading to Singapore, had 211 passengers on board, including 56 from Australia, 47 from the UK, and four from the United States, as well as 18 crew.
The flight, which took off from London's Heathrow Airport at 10.17PM local time on Monday, encountered "sudden severe turbulence" over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar at an altitude of 37,000 feet, around 10 hours into its journey and in the middle of meal service.
The area in which the plane was flying at the time, the Intertropical Convergence Zone, an area near the equator, is also known for turbulence due to many storms in the area.
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