Alert – Grandfather, 68, injured in the deadly Singapore Airlines flight that left one Brit dead and dozens hurt, recounts the turbulence, carnage and chaos of trying to find his daughter, wife and grandson in hospital in Bangkok

A grandfather who was injured on the deadly Singapore Airlines flight today has revealed his harrowing experience trying to locate his wife, daughter and grandson at a Bangkok hospital. 

Jerry, a 68-year-old who did not give his last name when he spoke to the BBC, described today as the ‘worst day of my life.’

He was one of more than 70 people injured on the flight. The British passenger who died onboard was named as Geoffrey Kitchen, a 73-year-old musical theatre director from Gloucestershire. 

He said that after the plane landed in Bangkok, the most severely injured people were taken off first by medical teams. 

‘I ended up in the hospital and obviously, because of the situation, it was fairly chaotic’, he said.

‘Things were going very smoothly at first. I had just been to the loo, came back and sat down [before experiencing a] bit of turbulence.

‘Suddenly the plane plunged, I don’t know how far but it was a long way and so sudden. There was no warning at all. 

Jerry, who did not give his last name when he spoke to the BBC, described today as the ‘worst day of my life’

Jerry was one of more than 70 people injured on the flight

Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, ran the Thornbury Musical Theatre Group in Bristol

Oxygen masks are seen hanging from the ceiling in the cabin of the Singapore Airlines flight

‘I ended up hitting my head on the ceiling [and] my wife did. Some poor people walking around ended up doing somersaults, it was absolutely terrible.

‘Suddenly it stopped, and it was calm again. The staff did their best to tend to the injured people, there were a lot of them. 

‘Some of the staff were injured themselves, so they did a sterling job. 

‘Eventually they told us we’d divert to Bangkok, which was a huge relief. 

Jerry said that his family’s plan of attending a wedding had to be called off due to the horrifying incident. 

‘We were going to my son’s wedding, and that was supposed to be on Friday. 

‘If we continued out itinerary, that would mean five consecutive flights. We’re not going to do that, we’re going to go straight back. It’s just unfortunate.

‘The bad experience that my wife and daughter had, and my own experience, [means] we can’t stomach another five flights.’

Andrew Davies, from Lewisham, South-East London, who was also on the flight said: ‘The thing I remember the most is seeing objects and things flying through the air. I was covered in coffee. It was incredibly severe turbulence.

‘During the few seconds of the plane dropping there was an awful screaming and what sounded like a thud.’

Mr Davies said he helped a woman who was ‘screaming in agony’ after suffering a ‘gash on her head’, adding that there were ‘so many injured people’.

One witness described ‘head lacerations and bleeding ears’ from the screaming wounded, some of whom were helped by medically trained passengers.

And another passenger said there was ‘blood everywhere’ and ‘people’s belongings just strewn all over the plane’.

British pensioner Geoffrey Kitchen died from a suspected heart attack, officials said. More than 70 people were injured in the incident, with Mr Kitchen’s wife Linda thought to be among those in hospital. Her condition is not known.

Pictured: Passengers are seen in the cabin after the incident today, with belongings strewn across the floor and oxygen masks dangling from above

After around 11 hours of flying time from take off in London, the aircraft sharply dropped 6,000 feet in just five minutes, causing chaos in the cabin. In pictures of the aftermath, one air stewardess was seen with blood over her face (pictured)

Tributes have poured in for Mr Kitchen, who ran Thornbury Musical Theatre group and is said to be a grandfather, with heartbroken friends describing him as ‘adventurous’ and ‘a really nice guy’.

The retired insurance worker and his wife were heading abroad on a six-week holiday of a lifetime to South East Asia, Indonesia and when disaster struck around 11 hours into their flight from Heathrow. 

The aircraft hit an air pocket and plummeted an astonishing 6,000ft in just five minutes, with the sudden drop unleashing mayhem onboard and forcing the plane to make an emergency landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport.

Terrified passengers have described how they had little to no warning to put their seatbelts on before the aircraft suddenly dropped while the crew were serving breakfast, with one passenger saying people were ‘launched into the ceiling’ as the plane fell through the sky.

Of the 211 passengers and 18 crew on board, Thai authorities said 71 people had been sent for treatment, six of whom were seriously injured, with many sustaining lacerations to the head as they were thrown upwards. 

Video shows emergency services taking one passenger out from the cabin on a stretcher

The 73-year-old died from a suspected heart attack, Thai officials said. His wife is believed to be in hospital

Thai authorities earlier revealed that Mr Kitchen died of a suspected heart attack. Neighbours today told that he had suffered heart problems in recent years and had stents put in to widen his arteries.

Close friend Steve Dimond, 73, who lives a few doors down from Mr Kitchen’s three-bed home in leafy Thornbury, said: ‘You wouldn’t know it, he carried on as normal and was very fit and active.

‘He was very involved with amateur dramatics and was helping me make scenery for our new production.

‘He was a good singer, a fine actor, he was on the committee, he loved musical theatre.

‘He and his wife like live music, all sorts, folk jazz, everything. He’s known his wife since they were teenagers, they are a lovely couple.’

‘It’s a terrible shock, he was a really nice bloke.’

Mr Dimond said he and his wife Jill were worried about Mr Kitchen’s wife Linda and had been trying to call her.

The couple fear she may have been one of the passengers critically injured when the Singapore Airlines aircraft hit severe turbulence.

Mr Dimond said: ‘They were very adventurous and had been planning the holiday for a long time.

‘They spent last weekend with their grandchildren because they wouldn’t be seeing them for a while.’

Geoff and his wife were both involved with the Thornbury musical theatre group.

Mr Dimond said: ‘I will remember him playing a Sultan and a Dame, he was fantastic. A lovely, funny man who could sing and act.’

Passengers are seen on the Singapore Airlines plane after it made an emergency landing in Bangkok today. Oxygen masks fell from the ceiling, as did other components

A passenger died and dozens of others were injured on a flight from London to Singapore this afternoon forcing an emergency landing in Thailand. Pictured: The plane and ambulances are seen on the tarmac at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok today

Passengers said Thai emergency services worked quickly to help those on board after the plane made an emergency landing

A person is seen being carried away from the aircraft on a stretcher today in Bangkok

A woman in a wheelchair and carrying a baby is seen being taken off the tarmac in Bangkok

Medical crew are seen aiding passengers in temporary tents set up at the airport today

Passengers on the flight, 47 of whom were from the UK, have described how the plane dropped in mid-air as it encountered extreme turbulence near Myanmar airspace.

‘Suddenly the aircraft starts tilting up and there was shaking so I started bracing for what was happening, and very suddenly there was a very dramatic drop so everyone seated and not wearing seatbelt was launched immediately into the ceiling,’ Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student on board the flight told Reuters.

‘Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it, they hit the places where lights and masks are and broke straight through it,’ he said.

Meanwhile a mother has described her agonising wait after receiving a chilling message from her son, who was on the flight.

Allison Barker told the BBC that her son Josh, who was on his way to a holiday in Bali, texted her at 9.10am this morning.

‘I don’t want to scare you, but I’m on a crazy flight. The plane is making an emergency landing… I love you all,’ his message read.

‘It was terrifying,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know what was going on. We didn’t know whether he’d survived, it was so nerve wracking. It was the longest two hours of my life. It was awful; it was petrifying.’

Emergency ambulance vehicles drive to transport injured passengers from a flight from London to Singapore to a hospital, after an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport

Of the 211 passengers and 18 crew on board, Thai authorities said 71 people had been sent for treatment, six of whom were seriously injured

General Manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport, Kittipong Kittikachorn speaks to the media during a press conference after a flight from London to Singapore diverted in an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport

She was eventually able to speak to her son who confirmed he was safe. He did suffer minor injuries to his teeth, however, adding he was ‘in a lot of pain’. 

A British man who was traveling with his family on the flight said ‘there were people walking around’ when the turbulence hit, and claimed that ‘there was no sign to put the seat belts on.’

‘There was no turbulence prior to that. It went from no turbulence to this one turbulence. No plane shaking at all and then I was hitting the roof. All of a sudden, I was up like that,’ he told the BBC.

‘My son was thrown down on the floor two rows behind me. I heard that there was a guy hitting the roof in the toilet and he was injured quite badly, too.’

Ceiling fittings had been ripped apart and the pipework was exposed. Machinery was hanging from the galley where trolleys are stored. 

One air stewardess was seen with red marks over her face. Her male colleague could be seen in a chair nearby, looking shocked and dishevelled.

Another passenger described how in the aftermath, other flyers had to administer medical assistance to those who were injured.

The Boeing 777 plane operated by Singapore Airlines left the UK’s Heathrow airport on Monday evening at 22.17pm local time with 211 passengers and 18 crew on board.

However, flight SQ321 experienced severe turbulence while flying close to Myanmar airspace in a region currently being battered by extreme tropical thunderstorms.

The plane dropped from an altitude of around 37,000 feet to 31,000 feet within just five minutes as it finished traversing the Andaman Sea and neared Thailand. 

The plane – registered 9V-SWM – was diverted to the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok where it made an emergency landing at 15.45pm local time, the airline announced on its Facebook page.

It had been scheduled to land at the Singapore Changi Airport at 6.10pm local time.

An injured passenger is seen being carried off the plane by medical responders 

People are seen being loaded into the back of ambulances on the tarmac in Bangkok

The Singapore airline aircraft is seen on tarmac after requesting an emergency landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thailand, May 21, 2024

The interior of Singapore Airline flight SG321 is pictured after today’s emergency landing

Exposed pipes are seen on the plane after today’s emergency landing

Wine bottles, kettles and food trays are seen scattered across the floor of the cabin

After the cabin was emptied of passengers, footage (pictured) showed the aftermath of today’s incident, with people’s belongings and other items scattered throughout the plane

 The crew’s area on the plane is seen with items scattered over the floor and shelves

This flight tracker showed the plane’s route from London before diverting to Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok

Flight tracking websites showed flight SQ321 diverting from its planned route to Singapore and instead landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok. The plane is shown dropping 6,000 feet as it flies over Myanmar

Ambulances were seen racing onto the tarmac next to the plane. The dead passenger was reportedly later removed after injured travellers were assisted. 

One man who said he was on the flight took to X (formerly Twitter) to describe the incident.

Andrew Davies, from Lewisham, London, wrote that he and other passengers who were not injured in the turbulence were currently waiting in a holding area at the airport.

‘Lots of people [are] injured – including the air stewards who were stoic and did everything they could,’ he wrote.

‘Bangkok emergency services [were] quick to respond. Very little warning. The seat-belt sign came on, I put on my seat-belt straight away then the plane just dropped.’

Mr Davies wrote that ‘passengers with medical training’ were working to help the injured in the aftermath of the plane dropping.

‘CPR on the poor gentleman that passed. Another passenger laid flat in [the] aisle further behind me. Not sure what happened with them,’ he said.

‘People’s belongings scattered, coffee and water splattered the ceiling. Surreal. So many injured people. Head lacerations, bleeding ears. A lady was screaming in pain with a bad back. I couldn’t help her – just got her water.’

He said that he wished he could have done more to help, adding: ‘My heart goes out to the gentleman who lost his life and his poor wife. Awful experience.’

In a statement on Facebook, Singapore Airlines confirmed the emergency landing and that one passenger had died in the incident.

‘Singapore Airlines flight #SQ321, operating from London (Heathrow) to Singapore on 20 May 2024, encountered severe turbulence en-route,’ the statement from the airline said. ‘The aircraft diverted to Bangkok and landed at 1545hrs local time.

‘We can confirm that there are injuries and one fatality on board the Boeing 777-300ER. There were a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew on board,’ it said.

‘Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased.

‘Our priority is to provide all possible assistance to all passengers and crew on board the aircraft,’ the statement added. ‘We are working with the local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary medical assistance, and sending a team to Bangkok to provide any additional assistance needed.’

Singapore’s President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said he was ‘greatly saddened by the loss of a life caused by the severe turbulence on board the SQ321 flight from London earlier today, and the injuries caused to several others,’ in a statement shared on his social media.

‘My deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased. We must hope and pray that the passengers or crew members who were injured are able to recover smoothly. 

In a statement on Facebook (pictured), Singapore Airlines confirmed the emergency landing

Photos were posted on social media by accounts claiming to show the aftermath of the emergency landing. One (left) purportedly showed food strewn across the floor, while another (right) was said to show the ambulances on the tarmac at the airport

This picture posted to social media purportedly shows emergency staff working at the airport after the plane made an emergency landing

Members of a rescue team discuss after a London-Singapore flight was diverted to Bangkok due to severe turbulence, in Bangkok, Thailand, May 21, 2024

Suvarnabhumi airport general manager Kittipong Kittikachorn told a press conference (pictured) that the deceased was a 73-year-old British man who was travelling with his wife. He likely suffered a heart attack, the official said

He added: ‘We do not have the details of those affected, but know that the government ministries and agencies, as well as SIA, are doing their utmost to support all those affected and working with the authorities in Bangkok’.

Singapore’s Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said his country’s government would assist the passengers and their families.

‘I am deeply saddened to learn about the incident onboard Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 from London Heathrow to Singapore,’ he wrote on Facebook.

The country later announced that it was sending investigators to Bangkok. ‘The Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) is in touch with its Thai counterparts and will be deploying investigators to Bangkok,’ the transport ministry said.

Speaking to the BBC, aviation expert John Strickland said that injuries from flight turbulence are ‘relatively rare’ considering how many flights operate each day.

‘However, severe turbulence can be dramatic and lead to severe injuries or sadly in this case a fatality,’ he added. ‘It is not for nothing that airlines recommend keeping seat belts loosely fastened throughout a flight be it long or short.’

He told the PA news agency: ‘Exposure is greater in different parts of the world. 

‘The South Atlantic, Africa and the Bay of Bengal are all places that spring to mind where there’s a greater incidence,’ adding: ‘There are discussions about whether climate change is influencing an increase in occurrences.’

Mr Strickland said airlines use a variety of methods to minimise the chances of a flight being affected by trbulence, such as weather forecasts, radar and reports from aircraft ahead.

He added: ‘It can never be taken lightly when airlines recommended you keep the seatbelt loosely fastened throughout the flight.’

Marco Chan, Senior Lecturer in Aviation Operations at Buckinghamshire New University, told that incidents involving extreme turbulence tend to occur when a plane is navigating through thunderstorms.

‘The thunderstorms, bringing possible severe ice and turbulence, are prominently displayed on the pilots’ navigation display,’ Chan – who is also an Experienced Airbus Pilot and former A330 First Officer with Hong Kong Airlines – said.

‘The pilots are expected to navigate around the thunderstorms while having the seat belt sign on as a precaution. 

‘It may not be possible to completely circumvent the thunderstorm cluster as they can stretch well over 50 nautical miles plus due to airspace restrictions,’ he noted.

Turbulence-related airline accidents are the most common type, according to a 2021 study by the National Transportation Safety Board.

From 2009 through 2018, the US agency found that turbulence accounted for more than a third of reported airline accidents and most resulted in one or more serious injuries, but no aircraft damage.

In June last year, two British Airways crew suffered broken legs when a flight from Singapore to Heathrow was affected by severe turbulence over the Bay of Bengal.

A report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said ‘unsecured cabin crew were thrown around in the cabin’, resulting in two crew members being seriously injured and three sustaining minor injuries. No passengers were hurt.

Singapore Airlines, widely recognised as one of the world’s leading airlines and a benchmark for much of the industry, has not had any major incidents in recent years.

Its last accident resulting in casualties was a flight from Singapore to Los Angeles via Taipei, where it crashed on October 31, 2000 into construction equipment on the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after attempting to take off from the wrong runway. The crash killed 83 of the 179 people on board.

While there is no suggestion that today’s incident was the fault of the plane, it is the latest scare involving a Boeing-manufactured aircraft in recent weeks.

Emergency workers are seen on the tarmac of the airport in Thailand today 

The flashing lights of emergency service vehicles are seen at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok today 

Questions over safety have plagued the manufacturer ever since a door plug blew out of a 737 Max on an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

The safety crisis at Boeing has led to aircraft shortages, which could cause a wave of cancellations this summer as Britons prepare for their holiday getaways.

This has not been helped by a string of incidents involving Boeing planes, with May seeing at least four – with three coming in just two days.

In Turkey on May 9, a Boeing plane’s tyre burst on the runway after landing.

That same day, shocking footage emerged showing the moment terrified passengers fled a burning Boeing 737-300 jet carrying 78 passengers that skidded off the runway and caught fire during take-off in Senegal.

These two incidents came after a FedEx plane made an emergency landing at Istanbul Airport on May 8, with video showing its nose skidding along the runway.

Video also captured flames shooting from the back of a Boeing 747-400 just last week on May 16, forcing the jet to make an emergency landing in Indonesia.

On the plane involved in today’s incident also being a Boeing, Mr Chan noted: ‘The aircraft in question is a Boeing 777-300ER, a manufacturer that has already hit the headlines. It must be emphasised that such incidents can happen to any flights and any manufacturer’s aircraft.’

‘The crucial next steps are for Singapore Airlines to now arrange to bring the affected passengers to their initial destination – Singapore,’ he said.

‘They will also need to work with the local civil aviation authorities and investigation teams, particularly with the pilots and the cabin crew onboard (once they are recovered from the flight or any injuries sustained), to find out what happened.

‘It will also be important to analyse the in-flight data to look at the parameters of the flight to understand the effect of the turbulence and the cockpit voice recorder to understand the conversations and actions that took place during the incident.’  

Boeing expressed its condolences following Tuesday’s incident.

‘We extend our deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one and our thoughts are with the passengers and crew,’ Boeing said.

Rescue medical teams prepare to move the injured to a hospital near Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, 21 May 2024

Joji Waites, head of flight safety at pilots’ union Balpa, said: ‘Balpa sends its thoughts to the family and friends of those affected by this event.

‘Aircraft are designed and certificated to withstand flight in severe turbulence, and pilots are trained in how to anticipate potential turbulence encounters based on weather forecasts and the aircraft’s onboard technology.

‘Route weather forecasts provide a general prediction of when turbulence is likely to occur, but they often cannot reflect actual conditions in sufficient detail to enable pilots to avoid specific instances of turbulence.

‘It is important, therefore, for aircraft occupants to have their seatbelts fastened while seated should any unexpected encounters occur and comply promptly with ‘fasten seat belt’ signs when asked to do so.’

Full timeline of Boeing problems in 2024

January 5

On January 5, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 – a Boeing 737 Max 9 – lost a door plug at 16,000 feet on a flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California.

That part is designed to replace an unneeded emergency exit door, and it blew out within just 20 minutes of takeoff. 

An emergency landing was required and the plane landed safely, but a teddy bear, two mobile phones, a child’s t-shirt were all said to have have flown out during the incident.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded 171 of the 737 Max 9s in the aftermath and six of the flight’s passengers went on to sue the airline.

Alaska Airlines and United Airlines also went on to find loose parts on their grounded jets’ door plugs.

On January 5, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 – a Boeing 737 Max 9 – lost a door plug at 16,000 feet on a flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California 

The missing door panel was found in a high school physics teacher’s back yard

January 16

An anonymous whistleblower broke rank to say that the door plug blowout ‘was Boeing’s fault’, rather than its supplier Spirit AeroSystems.

First reported by The Seattle Times, they claimed the fuselage panel was removed for repair then reinstalled improperly at its Washington factory

‘The reason the door blew off is stated in black and white in Boeings own records,’ they wrote on aviation site Leeham News.

‘It is also very, very stupid and speaks volumes about the quality culture at certain portions of the business.’

February 6

A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report said that the January 5 incident was down to four crucial bolds being missing from the panel which blew out.

February 21

Boeing’s 737 Max program chief, Ed Clark, was reportedly fired in a structural shakeup at the company.

Clark was also general manager at the company’s Renton, Washington, facility and had been at Boeing for 18 years. 

He was replaced by Katie Ringgold, while a ‘senior vice president of quality’ role was created too.

March 3

A United Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 veered off the runway after landing in Houston due to some sort of gear collapse.

Shocking footage showed the plane lying flat on its wings on grass by the side of the runway, while passengers were hurried off from an emergency gate ladder. 

A Boeing 737 Max operated by United Airlines veered off the tarmac into the grass when exiting the runway at George Bush Airport in Houston early Friday

March 4

An audit by the FAA of both Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems ‘found multiple instances where the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements’.

March 6

The head of the NTSB accused Boeing of ‘not cooperating’ with its investigation into the January incident. 

Jennifer Homendy said investigators sought the names of the 25 people who work on door plugs at the Renton facility, but had not received them from Boeing.

She told a Senate Committee hearing ‘it is absurd that two months later we don’t have it’.

However, Boeing spokesperson Connor Greenwood pushed back and insisted that names of employees were provided ‘early in the investigation’.

The same day, a 737’s engine caught fire in mid-air above Texas, causing an emergency landing  minutes into its journey to Fort Myers, Florida. 

March 7

A wheel fell off a Boeing 777-200 shortly after takeoff from San Francisco, crushing cars below. 

The plane with 235 passengers and 14 crew diverted to Los Angeles Airport after it was alerted to the landing gear failure and landed safely with no further incident and no injuries reported on the ground. 

March 9

Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, 62 – a former quality control manager and employee of 32 years – was found dead in his truck outside a South Carolina hotel days after testifying against the company in a lawsuit.

The coroner put it down to a ‘self-inflicted’ gunshot wound in the head, though the police confirmed that they would investigate further.

Barnett had made a string of complaints to his higher-ups in his time as a quality control manager before leaving the company on health grounds in 2017.

In January 2024, he appeared on TMZ to say that the 737 Max 9 aircraft were being launched back into the air too soon in the wake of the accident, suggesting corners had been cut.

Boeing whistleblower John Barnett was found dead in his truck outside a South Carolina hotel days after testifying against his former employer

March 11

A Boeing 777 was was forced to land due to hydraulic fluid spewing from its landing gear area. 

The forced landing happened as the San Francisco-bound 777-300 embarked from Sydney, with fluid filmed leaking from its undercarriage. 

March 15

A United Airlines 737 was grounded after it was found to be missing a panel after it touched down successfully in Medford Airport, Oregon, despite the missing part.

March 20

A Boeing 737 900 bound for Atlanta was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing after an engine blow out on take-off from Aruba.

The Delta flight circled the Caribbean island four times before coming back into land following the ‘mechanical issue’. 

March 29

United Airlines flight 990 – a Boeing 777-200 – from San Francisco to Paris had to touch down early in Denver after engine problems.

April 4

Alaska Airlines announced that they had received $160 million in compensation from Boeing after their 737 Max 9s were grounded following the January 5 door blowout.

The amount was equal to the revenue lost according to a filing from the airline, but Alaska added that it anticipated receiving extra compensation too.

April 10

Another whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, came forward in a Senate committee hearing to accuse Boeing of taking shortcuts when building its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets and added that the company had retaliated against him when he raised concerns. 

He doubled down on the claims a week later, adding on NBC that 787s should be grounded fearing ‘fatal flaws’ which could case them to fall apart mid-air.

In a 1,500 word statement, Boeing said it was ‘fully confident’ in the 787 and called concerns about structural integrity ‘inaccurate.’

Pictured: Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour testifies before the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations on April 17

April 11

An internal Boeing review in response to an initial Wall Street Journal investigation found that CEO Dave Calhoun and other bosses at the aviation firm spent $500,000 on company private jets for personal trips which were improperly recorded as business travel.

Boeing’s review concluded that some of the flights taken by executives in 2021 and 2022 ‘were not previously classified as perquisites by the company’.

In the company’s proxy filing on April 5, Boeing said that these flights ‘should have been classified as such in accordance with SEC rules and guidance’. 

April 16

United Airlines indicated it will reduce reliance on Boeing after announcing a $124m loss in the first quarter of 2024, which it blamed on the scandal-laden manufacturer.

April 24

Boeing’s CEO assured investors after a first-quarter loss of $355m was announced which coincided with a six per cent dip in share prices.

Calhoun added that he had a successor lined up for his departure at the end of 2024 who would come from inside the company.

April 26

Delta flight 520 was forced to make an emergency landing at JFK Airport when an emergency slide fell off the Boeing 767 an hour into its journey to Los Angeles.

FAA records indicated that the plane was 33 years old. 

April 30

Joshua Dean (pictured) died suddenly on April 30 aged 45 having raised the alarm about supposed defects in 737 Max jets

Dean was employed by Spirit AeroSystems based in Wichita, Kansas 

A second whistleblower, Joshua Dean, died suddenly aged 45 having raised the alarm about supposed defects in 737 Max jets.

The former Spirit employee previously said he was fired from his quality auditing role for questioning standards at the supplier’s plant in Wichita, Kansas, in October 2022.

His family said on social media that Dean died in hospital after a sudden illness. 

Earlier in 2024, Dean spoke with NPR about being fired. ‘I think they were sending out a message to anybody else. If you are too loud, we will silence you,’ he said. 

May 6 

The US Federal Aviation Administration revealed it has opened an investigation into Boeing after the company reported that workers at a South Carolina plant falsified inspection records on certain 787 planes.

Boeing said its engineers have determined that misconduct did not create ‘an immediate safety of flight issue’.

No planes have been taken out of service, but having to perform the test out of order on planes will slow the delivery of jets still being built at the final assembly plant in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Boeing must also create a plan to address planes that are already flying, the FAA said.

Shocking footage showed the moment the plane attempted an emergency landing, smashing down into the runway and scraping its nose along the concrete

May 8

A FedEx Airlines Boeing cargo plane landed at Istanbul Airport without the front landing gear deployed and managed to stay on the runway, Turkey’s transport ministry said, adding that there were no casualties.

The Boeing 767 aircraft, flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, informed the traffic control tower at Istanbul Airport that its landing gear failed to open and it landed with guidance from the tower, the ministry said in its statement.

Airport rescue and fire fighting teams made necessary preparations on the runway before landing, and no one was injured, the ministry also said, without giving a reason for the failure.

Footage showed sparks flying and smoke billowing as the front end of the plane scraped along the runway before being doused with firefighting foam.

May 9 

A Corendon Airlines Boeing 737 plane’s front tire burst upon landing at an airport in southern Turkey on Thursday, the Turkish transport minister said, adding there were no casualties and all 190 passengers and crew were evacuated.

The front landing gear strut was damaged on the Corendon Airlines plane, arriving from Cologne, Germany, as it landed at Alanya-Gazipasa airport in Antalya.

The same day, a Boeing passenger plane came off the runway during takeoff from Dakar international airport, injuring 11 people and shutting the hub for hours. 

A Boeing 738 plane of Corendon Airlines that operated Cologne-Antalya flight gets stuck on runway due to a burst tire in Antalya, Turkiye on May 9, 2024

Pictures from the scene in Turkey showed the stationary aircraft on the tarmac flanked by emergency vehicles – its front wheels and landing gear crumpled underneath. Corendon Airlines denied Turkish reports that the aircraft had landed on its nose

In this grab taken from video people jump down emergency slides, running from a plane, in Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. A Boeing 737 plane carrying 85 people caught fire and skidded off a runway at the airport in Dakar, Senegal’s capital, injuring 11 people

The Air Senegal flight was bound for the Malian capital Bamako and had 78 passengers on board, plus a crew of six including two pilots, airport management company LAS said in a statement.

Images showed the aircraft in an overgrown area with first aiders surrounding an injured person. Smoke and flames are also visible near the plane.

Also on May 9, the US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating statements made by Boeing Co. about its safety practices after a mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX flight in January.

The SEC will examine whether the planemaker or its executives misled investors in violation of the Wall Street regulator’s rules, the report said, citing three people familiar with the development.

May 14

Boeing has violated a settlement that allowed the company to avoid criminal prosecution after two deadly crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft more than five years ago, the Justice Department told a federal judge.

It is now up to the Justice Department (DOJ) to decide whether to file charges against Boeing. Prosecutors will tell the court no later than July 7 how they plan to proceed, the department said.