{"id":94127,"date":"2026-10-19T05:21:59","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T21:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=94127"},"modified":"2026-10-19T05:21:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T21:21:59","slug":"sia-turbulence-incident-leaves-crew-member-with-fractured-ankle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=94127","title":{"rendered":"SIA turbulence incident leaves crew member with fractured ankle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"text-primary article-summary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SINGAPORE \u2013 <!-- -->A Singapore Airlines (SIA) cabin crew member suffered a fracture to the right ankle after a flight heading to Singapore from the Philippine capital Manila encountered turbulent weather.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Four<!-- --> other cabin crew members on Flight <!-- -->SQ919<!-- --> suffered minor injuries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB), which falls under the Transport Ministry, issued a report on <!-- -->Oct 5<!-- --> detailing the findings of its probe into the incident.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The SIA plane, an Airbus A350-900 jet, encountered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/transport\/singapore-airlines-incident-what-causes-turbulence-and-is-climate-change-making-it-worse?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"inline font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"typography-test-id\">turbulence caused by convective activity,<\/span><\/a> or vertical movements of moist, hot air, on<!-- --> Nov 14, 2025,<!-- --> at <!-- -->7.52pm<!-- -->, about two hours into a flight estimated to take about two hours and 55 minutes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">At about <!-- -->7.40pm, <!-- -->when the plane was cruising at 40,000ft, the pilots were alerted by their weather radars to storm clouds about 80 nautical miles ahead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The pilots decided to continue with their planned route because they were flying at an altitude above the storm clouds, which were at about 30,000ft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">That means the plane was about 10,000ft above the clouds, exceeding the 5,000ft margin recommended by the plane manufacturer to avoid the \u201carea of greatest threat\u201d, the report said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Even so, the pilots switched on the \u201cfasten seat belt\u201d signs as a precaution and advised the crew to continue cabin service cautiously.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">About 11 minutes later, air traffic control instructed the pilots to descend from 40,000ft to 34,000ft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The pilots started descending at 700ft per minute instead of the usual rate of 1,000ft per minute, to allow the aircraft to fly at an altitude of about 37,000ft \u2013 more than 5,000ft above the storm clouds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">At <!-- -->7.53pm<!-- -->, the plane encountered turbulence while descending at about 38,450 feet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The report said the vertical acceleration of the plane dropped from plus <!-- -->1G<!-- --> to plus <!-- -->0.7G<!-- --> in <!-- -->1.34<!-- --> seconds, before rising to plus <!-- -->1.89G<!-- --> in <!-- -->0.34<!-- --> second.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">It then fluctuated between plus <!-- -->1.89G<!-- --> and plus <!-- -->1.5G<!-- --> for the next <!-- -->1\u00bc<!-- --> seconds, before reaching plus <!-- -->1.66G<!-- -->. It then dropped to plus <!-- -->0.24G<!-- --> in <!-- -->1\u00bc<!-- --> seconds. The aircraft returned to stable flight after another <!-- -->two<!-- --> seconds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Gravitational force, or G-force, measures acceleration or deceleration compared with the normal pull of gravity on earth. The baseline is set at plus 1G, which means that at plus 1.89G, a person would feel as if they were 1.89 times their body weight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The pilot said the plane was not flying through storm clouds when the turbulence hit, the report added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The plane landed in Singapore at <!-- -->8.41pm<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The TSIB report said the pilots reviewed pre-flight briefing materials before the flight, including a forecast of occasional storm clouds that could reach a height of <!-- -->51,000ft<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Despite the precautions the pilots took \u2013 such as switching on the seat belt signs and opting for a shallower descent \u2013 they could not avoid the turbulence, the report added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The incident, the report said, highlighted how the effects of thunderstorms and other weather phenomena can spill beyond the top of storm clouds detected on weather radars, and how they can have a harmful effect even if planes maintain the recommended vertical distance of 5,000ft from the clouds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">In response to queries, SIA said it acknowledged the report\u2019s findings. It added that its pilots and cabin crew receive regular training, guidance and updates on safety precautions, including measures to manage turbulence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The airline also said the cabin crew member who suffered a fractured ankle has since returned to flying duties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SIA has, in the past, reminded its pilots to switch on the seat belt signs to ensure that passengers and cabin crew remain seated whenever weather conditions pose a safety risk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The carrier has also discussed case studies of turbulence-related incidents with cabin crew members.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">At least\u00a0<!-- -->11<!-- --> turbulence incidents involving Singapore-registered aircraft were recorded from 2004 to 2025, based on TSIB air safety investigation reports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/transport\/sia-crew-member-fractures-ankle-on-manila-spore-flight-during-air-turbulence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SINGAPORE \u2013 A Singapore Airlines (SIA) cabin crew member suffered a fracture to the right ankle after a flight heading to Singapore from the Philippine&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}