Last month, Singapore Airlines offered to pay $10,000 compensation to passengers who suffered minor injuries during a flight that encountered sudden, severe turbulence.
The airline said on Tuesday it had offered compensation to passengers on board flight SQ321, which flew from London to Singapore on May 20, after the plane lost 54 metres (192 feet) of altitude in less than five seconds while flying over Myanmar.
A 73-year-old British man died of a heart attack in the crash and the Boeing 777-300ER made an emergency landing in Bangkok.
Of the 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board, 104 were injured. As of Monday, 12 passengers remained in hospital in Bangkok.
The airline said Monday it would offer $10,000 in compensation to passengers with minor injuries and would negotiate higher payments for those more seriously injured.
“For passengers who sustained more serious injuries in the accident, we are encouraging them to discuss compensation options tailored to their individual circumstances once they are recovered and ready,” the airline said.
“Passengers who are seriously injured and diagnosed with needing long-term treatment and who request financial assistance will be provided with an advance payment of $25,000 to cover their immediate needs, which will form part of any final compensation these passengers receive,” the company said.
Singapore Airlines will provide refunds to all passengers on the flight, including those who were not injured, and will also provide compensation for the delay under European Union and UK regulatory regimes.
Under the Montreal Convention, airlines are liable for damages for injury or death to passengers while on board an aircraft.
Many people continued on their journey with minor injuries, while 20 were treated in intensive care at a Bangkok hospital.
The most seriously injured passengers suffered injuries including skull, brain and spinal cord injuries, and at least one passenger subsequently lost feeling below the waist.
Photos from the interior of the plane showed oxygen masks, panels hanging from the ceiling, the floor covered in food and drink, and luggage strewn about. There were bloodstains on the plane’s carpet. One passenger told Reuters news agency that a plastic panel overhead had cracked from the impact..
The airline said it had provided each passenger with S$1,000 (US$739) to cover their immediate expenses upon departure from Bangkok, was also covering medical costs for injured passengers, and had arranged for family members or close friends to fly to Bangkok if requested.
Preliminary findings from the accident investigation revealed that the plane lost 54 metres in altitude within five seconds.
“The aircraft experienced a sudden change in G-forces. [gravitational force] “…as a result of this, it is highly likely that passengers who were not wearing seat belts became airborne,” Singapore’s Ministry of Transport said in a statement on the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau’s report.
“Vertical acceleration changed from minus 1.5 g to plus 1.5 g within four seconds, which likely caused the airborne occupants to fall,” the report said, citing information extracted from flight data and the cockpit voice recorder.
Additional reporting by AFP
