SMOOTHER SKIES

Singapore Airlines Changes Seatbelt Rule After Deadly Turbulence

The airline has also changed at least one flight path after one person died and dozens were hospitalized.

Singapore Airlines has amended its in-flight seatbelt sign policies and changed at least one flight path after a nightmare turbulence incident this week left one person dead and dozens seriously injured, CNN reported. The airline will now treat in-flight turbulence with more caution, including a new policy of not serving hot drinks or meals when the seatbelt sign is activated, it said in a statement to Singapore broadcaster Channel News Asia. Its flights have also avoided the area over Myanmar, where a London-Singapore flight on a Boeing 777-300ER jet hit an unexpected patch of rough sky last week, dropping 6,000 feet in three minutes and launching several unrestrained passengers into the plane’s ceiling. Flights on that old route have instead been diverted over the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, according to flight tracker data. Of the 211 passengers and 18 crew members who were on the ill-fated flight last week, 46 passengers and two crew members remain hospitalized in Bangkok, many for spine, spinal cord, skull, and brain injuries.