Airline crew suffer serious injuries and passengers scream in terror at 30,000 feet

BRITISH AIRWAYS BOEING 777-336 G-STBL (MSN 42124)

Five British Airways crew suffered serious injuries and passengers screamed in terror after their plane flying at 30,000 feet was hit by the worst turbulence the airline had seen in 'years'.

The crew, on board the BA12 flight from Singapore (SIN//WSSS) to London's Heathrow (LHR/EGLL), were hurt after the plane was struck by 'severe' and 'sustained' turbulence over the Bay of Bengal.

One of the in-flight team suffered a dislocated ankle and another is now undergoing an MRI to check severe bruising and swelling on her hip.

And a different crew member was still in hospital yesterday following surgery on their ankle and femur.

The flight was forced to turn back to Singapore at around 3am on Friday where the plane was checked for structural damage.

The Boeing 777-300ER, which had departed Singapore from runway 20L at 23.39 local, had passed over the Andaman Sea and was flying over the Bay of Bengal when it was hit by turbulence, almost 2 hours after departure. The pilots turned the aircraft around and landed back in Singapore on runway 02L at 4.02 local, 4 hours 20 minutes after it departed.

The airline had not experienced anything like it in 'the last five years' and the severity was 'obscene', according to the Sun. The passengers had reported: 'From out of no-where, the plane was shaking as it suddenly dropped five feet and rose again in uncomfortable jerked motions'.

'There were screams from the passengers and great upset and panic spread through the cabins.

'The 'fasten seat belt' signs were on but the heroic crew were carrying out essential duties when they were thrown around the cabin.

Once safely on the ground stunned passengers were thoroughly checked over and then given hotel accommodation and were re-booked onto later flights.

A British Airways spokesman said: 'Safety is always our priority and we're looking after our crew after one of our flights experienced a rare episode of severe turbulence.

'Our highly trained team on board reassured customers and the aircraft returned to Singapore as a precaution.

'We've apologised to customers for the delay to their flight and provided them with hotel accommodation and information on their consumer rights.

'We're re-booking customers onto the next available flights with us and with other airlines.'

Aircraft Information:

Airline: British Airways

Code: BA/BAW

Aircraft: Boeing 777-336ER

Registration: G-STBL

Serial Number: 42124

Engines: 2 x GE GE90-115B

First Flew: 2/7/2014

Age: 9 Yrs