SQ321 incident: Aviation analyst explains turbulence situations

More on our top story tonight, one personconfirmed dead and multiple others injured after a Singapore Airlines plane made an emergencylanding in Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport. A flight on route, is on route, from Singapore topick up the remaining passengers in Bangkok. Thai authorities are set to hold a presser to addressthe incident. For more insight for now, Alvin Lie, an independent aviation analyst joins us livefrom Perth, Australia. Mr Lie, we do not know a great deal right now but what we do know isfrom flight radar data, Flightradar24, it says the flight fell 6,000 ft in 5 minutes, about 11hours into the flight. From that very scanty information, what might you read into what mighthave happened on this flight? Looking at the number of injuries, I believe that theaircraft, the flight encountered clear-air turbulence,.

Which is, you cannot see it on theradar because it's not caused by cloud, that's why the pilot had no advanced notice to informthe passengers and the turbulence can be from light, moderate and I think thisone that happened is beyond severe, it's extreme and that's why it caused suchdamage and the time of the occurrence I noticed that it probably happened justafter lunch was served that's why. I expect a lot of passengers were queuingto use the toilet and this is where injuries happened because the aircraft was tossed violently in the air and probably it was impossible to control and Ibelieve the pilot made a good decision to divert and land as quickly as possible in Bangkok.That's all. Okay Mr Lie, as an expert explain this.

To us because those of us who occasionallydo fly, there is turbulence and the turbulence passes. But for this turbulence as you say it is anextreme case, passengers would have been flung in one case certainly incurring fatal injuries, but the need after that to have to make an emergency landing – what makes this different fromthe average case of turbulence experienced in flight? Normally the turbulence thatis caused by movement of clouds, pilots can actually see it in the radar, in the cockpit,so they can avoid the turbulence and they can actually notify passengers as well as flightattendance to return to their seats and wear their seat belts. Sorry Mr Lie, so you're suggesting that he wasunable to know whether the turbulence would continue, are you suggest ing that might have beenthe case? Yes, the pilot has no knowledge that he.

Was entering a turbulence because it's clear-airturbulence. It is the changes in air intensity, air direction and air speed that a plane that's of that size, Boeing 777, can be tossed about violently. If it's caused by normalturbulence, the cloud-related turbulence, the pilot could have avoided and will have avoidedthat but clear-air turbulence, there's no way of knowing when it's going to happen, where, and theseverity or intensity of the turbulence. It is just like, it's like cancer – it can hit us any time,anywhere without prior knowledge. Mr Lie, earlier our correspondent from Bangkok spoketo us and she said she had spoken to analysts who had said this was in many ways, in most ways thatcount, a flight-worthy plane, a solid capable plane of no older than 15 years of age. So you aresuggesting like cancer – this is something that.

Happens when it happens, no matter how worthya plane is, how worthy a pilot is, these things do happen. It's nothing to do with theplane, it's got nothing to do with the pilot's skill and this is something that you cannot predict,you cannot avoid it, because it happens and it happens suddenly and sometimes it's lightturbulence, sometimes it's moderate but in this case it is extreme, and the worst part is that ithappened, I assume, just after lunch when many people were not in their seats, so theywere not secured by their seatbelts that's why, that's the main cause of injuries.A final question, Mr Lie, when these things happen, of course there is alarm and then asuggestion that flight, one needs to be more careful after this but is there, are we like, this might have happened as you suggesting during.

Lunch when people would have been standing upandnot belted into their seats, but would incidents like these suggest we need to change how we managerules in the air in future, very quickly? No, there's no way to to identify where clear-airturbulence is going to happen and when but I believe there are many other planes flyingin that area at the same time. It's just hard luck, you know, but I believe Singapore Airlinesis doing the right thing, taking care of the injured and I believe the carrier's liabilityinsurance will cover the medical cost of those injured. All right, thanks so much for speakingto us. Alvin Lie speaking to us live there from Perth.

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