Investigators release report on SQ321
Singapore: It has been two years since Singapore Airlines Flight 321 touched down in Bangkok with one passenger dead and scores injured, including 13 Australians, victims of one of the most extreme turbulence events in modern aviation history.
Investigators still don’t have a definitive explanation for how it went so wrong.
The flight from London Heathrow to Singapore on 21 May 2024 experienced an unexpected swell over southwestern Myanmar, pushing it higher and faster before a rapid decline.
The force threw unbelted passengers and flight attendants who were preparing breakfast through the ceiling and into the cabin. They didn’t have time to react to the seatbelt sign.
British Geoff Kitchen, 73, died of heart failure before the plane could make an emergency landing in Bangkok.
South Australian high school dance teacher Kerry Jordan broke her neck and was left paralyzed from the chest down.
According to investigators, 79 of the 229 passengers and crew were injured, 56 of them seriously. There were more than 50 Australians on board, 13 of whom were taken to hospital.
The Singapore Transport Safety Investigation Bureau’s (TSIB) final investigation, released to coincide with the anniversary this week, has cast doubt on a potentially faulty onboard weather radar, but only said it “cannot be ruled out”.
Investigators reviewed Singapore Airlines’ previous Boeing B777 flights between May 2023 and June 2025 and found 103 separate reports of problems with the system; 12 of these were from the same aircraft used for the ill-fated SQ321.
The pilots said there was nothing alarming on the radar, a claim investigators could not specifically examine or test, and there were very few clouds. Later meteorological data and statements from four other flight crews in the area showed that there was, in fact, “widespread weather.”
While the flight paths of other planes were different, “the investigation team cannot understand why the flight crew was flying.” [SQ 321] I did not see the vast clouds.”
One theory that emerged in the wake of the incident was “clear air turbulence,” a difficult-to-detect phenomenon associated with high altitudes. The report ruled this out, instead determining that SQ321 hit “convective-induced turbulence” associated with clouds and thunderstorms.
Although there were no obvious problems with the conditions, the crew contacted air traffic control in Yangon, Myanmar, to request a more direct route to the next navigation waypoint “due to weather conditions.”
The TurkStat report explained this weather reference as “an attempt to increase the probability of the epidemic.” [air traffic control] Approves direct route requests”.
It worked to some extent; Yangon suggested a different waypoint, close but not as direct as requested, and the crew agreed.
Minutes later, Flight SQ321 soared and dived, pushing Jordan and his partner Keith Davis, who were returning to Australia from a holiday in the United Kingdom, against the cabin ceiling.
Davis was also hospitalized in Bangkok. Photos from the time show him in a wheelchair, surrounded by hospital staff who either could not understand English or were determined to prevent him from speaking to journalists. One of them even ripped a reporter’s business card from Davis’ hand. Wall StreetJournal.
It was the beginning of a long journey to be heard and helped, and Davis said that imprint recently ended with a confidential agreement with Singapore Airlines.
tabloid in the UK Sun reported this month that three British passengers filed a lawsuit against Singapore Airlines for damages.
The TSIB report recommended that aircraft manufacturers develop guidance and fixes for pilots and maintenance personnel for faulty weather radar systems.
Davis said the Singapore investigators’ views on the weather radar were now “somewhat irrelevant” as he and Jordan focused on enjoying the rest of their topsy-turvy lives.
“Two years have passed and it’s like you’re reinventing yourself,” he said.
“There have been some extra things, some good things, just total changes in our lifestyle. We sold a house, everything was redone, from top to bottom.”
“But the sun is shining, the birds are out… It just makes me think about what the alternatives might be.”
Zach Hope is a Southeast Asia correspondent. He is a former reporter for the Brisbane Times.Connect via email.
