The CEO of Singapore Airlines says the company will provide assistance to passengers and cooperate in investigations, following severe turbulence that hit its airplane on Tuesday, leaving one passenger dead and more than 80 others injured.
Goh Choon Phong offered a deep apology to all passengers who went through the "traumatic" experience in a video statement issued on Wednesday.
He said the airline will continue to extend total support to passengers and fully cooperate with relevant authorities on the investigations.
A Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 airplane bound from London to Singapore encountered sudden and extreme turbulence at an altitude of about 11,000 meters above Myanmar, about 10 hours after takeoff. The plane later made an emergency landing at an international airport near Bangkok, Thailand.
Thai authorities said 211 passengers and 18 crew members were on board. A 73-year-old British man died. The authorities indicated that he may have died of heart attack.
The private flight tracker Flightradar24 said the flight encountered a rapid change in aircraft pitch in a way consistent with sudden turbulence. It added that the unexpected changes had lasted nearly one minute.
Reuters news agency cited one passenger as saying that he saw people without seatbelts fastened being thrown to the ceiling.
Singapore's Transport Safety Investigation Bureau has sent officials to Thailand to investigate the causes of the incident.