A passenger on board the turbulent Singapore Airlines flight that killed a British grandfather has heartbreakingly revealed he suffered six fractures to his neck and spine.
Bradley Richards, 29, said he was knocked unconscious and woke up with blood pouring from his head after flight SQ321 from London to Singapore hit turbulence over Myanmar.
Another passenger, Geoff Kitchen, 73, from Thornbury, near Bristol, died of a suspected heart attack, while many others were injured as the plane dropped 178ft in just 4.6 seconds and suffered a rapid change in G-force.
Mr Richards, a telecommunications engineer from Benfleet, Essex, described the experience as “something out of a movie – and fears he will no longer be able to continue his work after suffering life-changing injuries.
After using a pillow to stop the blood flow, he says he “immediately felt pain in his spine” and had to be lifted into a wheelchair when the plane landed in Bangkok.
Initial findings from the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) show that the aircraft experienced a rapid change in upward and downward acceleration, causing injuries to persons not wearing seat belts.
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Mr Richards said: “I was asleep or I think I might have passed out when it happened.
“I remember waking up and my head was just pouring with blood, kids screaming, people running everywhere, it was so frantic.
“It was like a movie.
“I remember immediately feeling pain in my back and blood just pouring out of my head.
“I tried to use my pillow to stop the blood – one of the ones they give out on the flight.
“As soon as we landed I was in the back of the plane and I remember the medical staff running and having to step over all the injured people on the floor.
“They couldn’t get me a stretcher so they propped me up outside the plane.
“I told them about my back pain and the workers had to pick me up, support me under my arms and carry me to a wheelchair.
“I think the stretcher didn’t fit in their back because of the people on the floor, or maybe they didn’t pick it up because of all the chaos that happened.
“I was a bit quiet afterwards to be honest – it all felt so surreal. I didn’t shout or anything.
“It was all so traumatic. When I came and saw people on the floor wearing them – like I say, it felt like something out of a movie, not real life.”
Doctors told Mr Richards it was unlikely he would be able to return to work in his current role as an engineer.
He said: ‘It’s just gut-wrenching – I worked in that role for seven years and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.’
Mr Richards is being treated in hospital in Bangkok and is currently unsure when he will be able to return to the UK.
He suffered multiple spinal and neck fractures, a spinal epidural hematoma and a head laceration that required 20 stitches.
He said: “It hasn’t been pleasant I can assure you, but I’m trying my best to stay positive and the airline and the hospital have been so good to me, the healthcare is second to none.”
At the time of writing, he has raised £3,570 on GoFundMe to help pay for “injury related expenses not covered by Singapore Airlines or any other third parties when returning home to the UK”.
The TSIB’s preliminary investigation results indicate that the aircraft dropped 178 feet (54 m) in just four seconds.
The agency says it likely caused injuries to crew and passengers.
The Boeing 777-300ER, carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew, was diverted to Bangkok for an emergency landing after the plane was hit by turbulence that threw passengers and crew around the cabin, some hitting the ceiling.
“The aircraft experienced a rapid change in G (gravitational force). This likely resulted in passengers not being strapped in to get airborne,” Singapore’s Ministry of Transport said in a statement.
The vertical acceleration went from negative 1.5G to positive 1.5G in 4 seconds. This probably led to the passengers who were in the air falling back down,” it said, citing information obtained from flight data and cockpit voice recorders.
“Rapid G changes over 4.6 seconds resulted in an altitude drop of 178 feet, from 37,362 feet to 37,184 feet. This sequence of events likely caused injuries to the crew and passengers,” he added.