Twelve passengers were injured on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Dublin due to severe turbulence on Sunday. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner touched down safely at Dublin Airport shortly before 1 p.m. on Sunday.
“Upon landing, the aircraft was met by emergency services, including Airport Police and our Fire and Rescue department, due to 6 passengers and 6 crew [12 total] on board reporting injuries after the aircraft experienced turbulence while airborne over Turkey.”
“All passengers were assessed for injury prior to disembarking the aircraft. Eight passengers were subsequently taken to hospital,” the Dublin Airport wrote on X.
“The return flight to Doha (flight QR018) is scheduled to operate as normal this afternoon, albeit with a delay. Flight operations at Dublin Airport were unaffected and continue as normal this afternoon,” the airport added.
Today’s Incident Follows a Recent Singapore Airlines Death Due to Turbulence
The turbulent flight occurred just days after a 73-year-old British man was killed and over 30 others were injured when a Singapore Airlines Boeing flight encountered severe turbulence on May 21. The plane plunged 6,000 feet, causing unrestrained passengers to be thrown around the cabin and crash into overhead bins.
The Boeing 777-300ER jet, carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members, was en route to Singapore from London when it was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok.
Geoffrey Kitchen, a 73-year-old grandfather, passed away from a suspected heart attack shortly following the ill-fated flight’s issues.
Eighty-one-year-old passenger Beverly Mayers recalls the incident as so traumatic that she awoke in tears. “I woke up crying on the plane, and I don’t normally cry,” Mayers recalled to ABC News.
Mayers initially thought the turbulence was routine, but it quickly became apparent that something was amiss.
“We had had a bit of turbulence but that all stopped,” she explained. “I think they had served everyone breakfast, and I noticed one of the lockers had just come down.”
“We hadn’t touched it, so that was strange, and then suddenly everything went ‘bang’ and everything just fell.”
She also noted that after everything, passengers and some crew members were left bloodied.
In Bangkok on Thursday, Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong met with affected passengers, crew members, and their families. Phong wanted “to personally offer his support and to understand their concerns.”
“The well-being of our passengers and crew members remains our priority,” Phong explained in a statement. “I have given them my personal assurance that we will take care of them during this difficult time.”
Following the recent incident, Singapore Airlines is reportedly implementing new safety measures. These include suspending meal and hot beverage services whenever the seatbelt sign is illuminated.