Death of British man on SQ321 caused by cardiac failure resulting from severe turbulence, UK inquest hears

TSIB found that the turbulence was convectively induced and likely associated with a rapidly growing cloud capable of producing significant updrafts and downdrafts.

The pilots saw no bad weather on their navigational displays in the minutes before the incident, and visual checks indicated a clear flight path.

Investigators concluded that the aircraft’s weather radar likely did not detect the bad weather before the turbulence struck, although the radar manufacturer said it found no evidence that the system had failed to detect and display weather during the flight.

The seat belt sign had been switched on after the aircraft began experiencing turbulence, but severe turbulence struck just 17 seconds later, leaving no time for the flight crew to make a cabin announcement.

Rapid changes in gravitational force sent some passengers who were not wearing seat belts airborne before they fell back down.

Apart from Mr Kitchen, 56 people suffered serious injuries and 23 had minor injuries, while 149 were uninjured.