In a rare incident, a passenger on a flight from London to Singapore died and 71 others were injured because of extreme turbulence. Singapore Airlines has confirmed the death.
Singapore Airlines said in a statement that flight SQ321, which was traveling to Singapore when it took off on Monday from London’s Heathrow Airport, “encountered severe turbulence” en route. After being diverted, the plane touched down at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m. (local time).

There were 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board the Boeing 777-300 ER.

The British man who passed away was 73 years old, according to Kittipong Kittikachorn, the director of Suvarnabhumi Airport, as reported by news agency AFP. According to Kittipong, strikes to the head resulted in the majority of the injuries.

Six of the 71 patients who were sent for treatment to Bangkok’s Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital were reported to have sustained injuries.

Offering its condolences to the family of the person who died, the airline said, “We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing… Our top goal is to help every passenger and member of the crew on board the aircraft as much as we can. We are working with the local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary medical assistance, and sending a team to Bangkok to provide any additional assistance needed.”

According to experts, these types of injuries typically occur when passengers fail to fasten their seatbelts and the pilot is unable to issue an early warning due to the weather radar data not indicating turbulence. Passengers may sustain injuries if they are thrown around in the cockpit in such circumstances.

On an Air India flight from Delhi to Sydney in May of last year, turbulence caused multiple passengers to sustain injuries.