One year on, passengers recall how SQ321 incident upended their lives

Some continue to receive treatment for injuries on SIA flight hit by turbulence

- Vanessa Paige Chelvan Correspondent Azril Annuar Malaysia Correspondent and Jonathan Pearlman For The Straits Times

It has been six months since giving birth to her second child in November 2024, but Ms Saw Rong still cannot carry the baby girl. She fractured her back a year ago when extreme air turbulence hit a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight she and her husband were taking from London to Singapore. Ms Saw, who is in her 30s, was two months pregnant then.

On May 21, 2024, she and other passengers were flung up into the air on Flight SQ321 when sudden, extreme turbulence caused the Boeing 777-300ER to drop 178 feet, or about 54m, in 4.6 seconds.

It wreaked havoc in the cabin, leaving a British passenger dead from a suspected heart attack and dozens injured, some seriously.

One of the pilots declared a medical emergency and diverted the plane, carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members, to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The impact fractured Ms Saw's back, and she underwent spinal surgery in Bangkok, where she was hospitalised for about a month.

She has not been able to carry anything heavy since, her sister-in-law Eva Khoo told The Straits Times on May 19.

One year on from the ill-fated flight, Ms Saw and her husband, Mr Ian Khoo, continue to receive treatment for their injuries in Malaysia, where they live.

They are "scared and traumatised" by the experience, and have not set foot on a plane since flying home from Bangkok in 2024, said Ms Khoo, who has been speaking for the family on this matter.

Mr Khoo was thrown up from his seat when turbulence struck, and his head hit the overhead luggage compartment before he crashed down onto the floor of the aisle.

Even now, he still has numbness in his hands, his sister said.

She thinks it will take a long time for the couple to recover, mentally and physically.

"The incident had a very big impact on them," Ms Khoo said. "They thought they were going to die."