Singapore, June 11: Singapore Airlines Ltd. has offered US$10,000 in compensation to passengers who sustained minor injuries during a flight that hit extreme turbulence last month, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The airline has also offered to individually discuss compensation for those who sustained more serious injuries, according to a Facebook post on Tuesday. Those recovering from serious injury have been offered an advance payment of US$25,000 to address their immediate needs.
The airline also apologised for what it called the "traumatic experience" on board flight SQ321.
A 73-year-old British man died in the event and several dozen of the 229 passengers and crew on board were severely hurt, ranging from spinal to skull injuries. The Boeing 777 jet took off from London Heathrow on 20th May bound for Singapore when it encountered extreme turbulence near Myanmar, forcing it to divert to Bangkok.
All passengers aboard the ill-fated flight will receive a refund for their airfare as well as a payouts of up to to £520 or 600 euros for the delay to their journey in line with European Union or United Kingdom rules. The payments are in addition to the S$1,000 (US$739) the airline already paid out to passengers to cover initial expenses after the incident.
All affected passengers should have received their offers of compensation via email, the airline said.
Early investigations found that the aircraft was caught in an updraft before suddenly dropping almost 180 feet, causing most of the injuries during a calamitous 4.6 second period, according to a preliminary report on 29th May from Singaporean investigators.
The report also stated the jet was "likely flying over an area of developing convective activity" when the incident occurred, and that passengers had mere seconds to react to the seatbelt sign being switched on.
Source: Emirates News Agency