Linda Kitchen said the SQ321 flight hit turbulence and plunged 178ft in under five seconds over Myanmar in May 2024. Geoff Kitchen died after the incident, and several UK passengers are now suing Singapore Airlines for personal injury damages.
Linda Kitchen on SQ321
Kitchen said the aircraft was about 10 hours into the journey when the worst of the turbulence struck. The flight from London Heathrow was a Boeing 777-300ER, and the couple had been heading on a six-week holiday around Singapore, Indonesia and Australia.
“There had been some turbulence over Europe and it had been shaky over the water, but it was around 10 hours into the flight when we encountered the main turbulence. It was so severe; it felt like the aircraft was dropping.”
She also said: “I noticed my Kindle and Geoff’s phone had fallen to the floor and I thought the plane was going down. The drop in altitude seemed to happen suddenly. I fell backwards and to the side and felt pain shooting through me.”
Geoff Kitchen and CPR
Mr Kitchen was 73 when he died. Ms Kitchen was 74 and suffered spinal fractures, then spent time in intensive care before being transferred back to the UK 10 days later for further treatment. She said the news of his death reached her two days after the incident while she was in hospital.
“Geoff fell onto me and was squashing me into the armrest and I couldn’t move him. I was screaming and somehow two passengers managed to come across and help him. They moved Geoff near the escape door and a doctor was called to carry out CPR on him.”
She added: “When I got separated from Geoff I knew he was in a bad way, but nothing prepared me for hearing he had died. It was absolutely devastating.”
Singapore Airlines legal action
Several UK passengers are taking legal action against Singapore Airlines over personal injury damages after the May 2024 turbulence incident on SQ321. The claims sit alongside Kitchen’s account of the sudden drop and the fatal injury to her husband, giving the case both a personal and legal dimension.
For passengers tied to the flight, the practical step now is the lawsuit itself: the route for recovery runs through the claims process, not the events on board. Kitchen’s account shows why the case is centered on the scale of the injuries and the death, not only on the turbulence report.
The unresolved issue is the full scope of the damages being sought by the passengers, and the legal action against Singapore Airlines is the part of the story that will define what comes next.
