Dozens of individuals had been injured after Singapore Airways flight SQ321 was caught in turbulence.

A former pilot has mentioned that the Singapore Airways flight, which was caught in a extreme turbulence resulting in the demise of 1 passenger, may have hit an space referred to as the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ICZ). In line with NASA Earth Observatory, it’s a area that circles the Earth close to the equator, the place the commerce winds of the Northern and Southern hemisphere come collectively. As a result of intense warmth of the Solar and heat water of the equator on this area, the humidity content material is excessive. Aided by the convergence of the commerce winds, the buoyant air rises. Because the air rises it expands and cools, releasing the collected moisture in an nearly perpetual sequence of thunderstorms.

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Marco Chan, a former industrial pilot and lecturer in aviation at Buckinghamshire New College, mentioned in such a state of affairs, pilots’ choices could have been restricted.

“With turbulence of such magnitude, it’s probably the Singapore Airways flight was navigating by means of troublesome thunderstorms,” Mr Chan instructed the Wall Avenue Journal (WSJ).

Additional explaining the infamous storm system, he instructed The Guardian, “Thunderstorms are prominently displayed on the pilots’ navigation show – nevertheless it might not be potential to utterly circumvent the storm cluster as they’ll stretch effectively over 50 nautical miles.”

What’s turbulence?

It’s a phenomenon brought on by assembly of air at completely different temperatures, stress or velocity, the place completely different wind patterns collide.

Considered one of its harmful type is the clear-air turbulence, which may take airplane pilots without warning and happen with out warning.

The Boeing 777 jet of Singapore Airways needed to make an emergency touchdown in Thailand after being hit by lethal turbulence.

Geoffrey Kitchen, a 73-year-old British passenger, died probably as a consequence of a coronary heart assault on flight SQ321, mentioned Kittipong Kittikachorn, normal supervisor of Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.

Practically 60 passengers had been injured within the Could 21 incident.

Singapore Airways on Wednesday mentioned it’s totally cooperating with related authorities within the investigation, including that every one the passengers had been examined and handled on the airport.