A widow whose husband died after severe turbulence on a Singapore Airlines flight from London has begun High Court proceedings against the airline, the BBC reports. Linda Kitchen, 74, from Thornbury near Bristol, broke her back in the incident; her husband Geoff, 73, was fatally injured when the aircraft suddenly dropped around 6,000ft. She is seeking damages to help fund specialist support for her spine.
The flight was SQ321, London Heathrow to Singapore, on 21 May 2024. The Straits Times recorded the aircraft plunging more than 54 metres in roughly five seconds while crossing Myanmar. Geoff Kitchen suffered a heart attack after the drop. His wife says he fell on top of her as the cabin panicked, pinning her against an armrest; a doctor on board attempted CPR, and she was taken to hospital without knowing he had died, a fact she learned two days later.
The legal mechanics matter as much as the human story. Claims for death and injury on international flights run under the Montreal Convention, and turbulence cases are notoriously hard to win: severe clear-air turbulence is weather, and weather is rarely negligence. What gives this claim its shape is the personal-injury angle. Mrs Kitchen’s proceedings seek damages to fund long-term care for the back injuries she survived, rather than resting entirely on proving the airline caused the drop.
For travel insurers and aviation lawyers, the case keeps a familiar question live: what duty an airline owes when a cabin is not secured in time. Singapore Airlines has apologised to all passengers and crew for what it called a traumatic experience, stating that the safety and wellbeing of its passengers and staff are its top priority. The BBC put the claim to the airline for comment.