Widow and Fellow Passengers Sue Singapore Airlines Over 2024 Turbulence That Killed Husband and Fractured Spines

Linda Kitchen, 74, has filed two separate claims in the UK High Court against Singapore Airlines: one for her own spinal injuries, and one on behalf of her late husband Geoff Kitchen's estate. Geoff, 73, died of a suspected heart attack after the couple's flight from London Heathrow to Singapore hit severe turbulence over Myanmar in May 2024.

According to the BBC's reporting, cited by Channel NewsAsia and NDTV, flight SQ321 dropped 178 feet in under five seconds. The Independent reported that figure comes from preliminary investigation findings. Photos from the cabin, described by the Daily Mail, showed deployed oxygen masks and a galley strewn with wine and water bottles.

Linda Kitchen told The Independent the aircraft had already experienced mild turbulence over Europe before the severe drop hit roughly ten hours into the flight. "It was so severe, it felt like the aircraft was dropping," she said. Her husband fell on top of her, pinning her against an armrest. Other passengers helped move him near an escape door, where a doctor performed CPR. He died on board.

Kitchen learned of her husband's death two days later, after she had already been separated from him and taken to a Bangkok hospital. "Nothing prepared me for hearing he had died," she told the BBC. "It was absolutely devastating." She spent 10 days in intensive care in Bangkok before being flown back to Bristol, followed by roughly another week in a UK hospital.

Geoff Kitchen left behind two children, ages 48 and 45, and four grandchildren. "I feel I owe it to him to at least get some answers," Linda Kitchen said, according to Channel NewsAsia.

Anthe Korelidou, the aviation lawyer representing Kitchen, said the family still has unanswered questions about whether more could have been done to prevent the injuries and death. The family is waiting on a coroner's inquest into Geoff Kitchen's death, which has not yet been scheduled according to the reporting reviewed here.

Other passengers, other injuries

Bradley Richards, 30, a fiber engineer from Benfleet, Essex, was on his way to a holiday in Bali when the drop threw him from his seat. He woke up bleeding from his head to a cabin scene of screaming children and passengers on the floor. Richards told The Independent he sustained multiple spinal and neck fractures. He said the injuries pushed him out of his field job with Openreach's fiber network operations and into a desk role. "Two years later, I am still fighting to recover," he said.

Richards is represented by Keystone Law. James Healey-Pratt, a partner at the firm, said Singapore Airlines' refusal to admit legal responsibility "just strings things out for the injured passengers and drives up legal costs."

Court records reviewed by The Independent and South China Morning Post show at least five more claimants: Jack Jenkins, Hannah Fullerton, Andrew Dawood, Bryan Matthews, and Pauline and Michael Rainey.

Singapore Airlines has not disputed the underlying facts of the incident. Its chief executive, Goh Choon Phong, apologized to passengers shortly after the flight diverted to Bangkok for an emergency landing in May 2024. The airline has since said it adopted a more cautious approach to managing turbulence, according to The Independent. On the pending lawsuits, the carrier told CNA on August 29 it "was unable to comment on matters which are before the courts."

NDTV's report described the flight as having "plunged about 6,000ft," a figure that does not match the 178-foot, five-second drop cited consistently by the BBC, The Independent, Channel NewsAsia, and the Daily Mail as the finding from preliminary investigation reports. The 178-foot figure, tied to an under-five-second window, appears in every other source reviewed and reflects the sudden altitude change investigators identified, not a sustained multi-thousand-foot descent.

The flight was carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members when it hit turbulence on May 21, 2024. Singapore Airlines has not indicated whether it intends to contest liability or settle the claims. With a coroner's inquest into Geoff Kitchen's death still outstanding and the High Court claims freshly filed, the case is likely to hinge on what investigators determine about crew response, seatbelt-sign timing, and whether the severity of the turbulence was foreseeable.