One person deceased and around 30 injured: this is the toll of an emergency landing at the Thai airport of Bangkok made in the last few hours by the pilot of a B-777/300ER aircraft (registration 9V-SWM) operated by the airline Singapore Airlines. The commander was forced to carry out the maneuver after experiencing violent turbulence at high altitude. 

According to an initial reconstruction of the incident, the aircraft left London Heathrow airport on Monday 20 May at 10.38 pm headed for the Asian airport of Singapore (flight SQ321). During the overflight in the Andaman Sea the aircraft went through strong turbulence which caused the aircraft to rapidly lose altitude of approximately 1900 metres. At that moment the passengers would have been thrown from their seats and the aircraft would have suffered damage. One person lost his life. 

At that point the commander activated the emergency signal, diverting the aircraft towards Bangkok airport, where it made an emergency landing at 10.45am Italian time on Tuesday 21 May. There were several ambulances waiting for the aircraft, but all that remained for a 73-year-old British passenger was to confirm his death. There were 211 travelers and 18 crew members on board.