A mother-of-two has said she thought she was ‘going to die’ after her British Airways flight from Singapore to Heathrow ‘fell out of the sky’ at 30,000ft after being hit by the worst turbulence she had seen in ‘years’.
Jade Crosland, 31, was flying with her partner and their two young children on flight BA12 from Singapore to Heathrow, London when it was hit by ‘severe’ and ‘sustained’ turbulence over the Bay of Bengal.
He clutched his one-year-old daughter Harper to his chest after the plane went into ‘freefall’ around 3am on Friday.
Miss Crosland, who is British but now runs a hair salon business in Australia, told MailOnline that she sat with Harper, who was sleeping in a bassinet – but her partner Henry Trier, 32, and their son Hugo, three, were sitting up. A few rows back.
Mother-of-two Jade Crosland (pictured with daughter Harper, one) said she thought she was ‘going to die’ after her British Airways flight from Singapore to Heathrow ‘fell out of the sky’ while cruising at 30,000ft after hitting the worst ‘years’. by bad turbulence
Ms Crosland was traveling with her partner and their two young children on flight BA12 (pictured cabin after returning to Singapore) from Singapore to Heathrow, London when it was hit by ‘severe’ and ‘sustained’ turbulence over the Bay of Bengal.
‘At first it was a completely normal flight – the cabin crew were serving drinks and I was half asleep and my daughter was in the bassinet,’ he said.
‘The seatbelt sign came on unannounced when I was half awake, so I thought I’d get Harper out because you have to strap your baby to you when the sign is on.’
Mrs Crosland got up to strap her daughter in but then: ‘When I stood up the plane literally dropped a thousand feet.
‘Everybody flew into the air, everybody was screaming.’
He said: ‘One of the cabin crew was knocked out when a trolley hit him on the head. It all happened so quickly that they were still outside with their trolleys.’
After the devastating bout of turbulence the worried mother quickly tried to get her baby daughter out of her cage which luckily didn’t fly out, then restrain her, but Mrs Crosland struggled to do so in her panic.
‘I was in a complete panic trying to strap him in and the cabin crew said “It’s his arm, it’s his arm!” I was trying to get him out.’
He was able to free his daughter and strap her securely to her chest within minutes.
‘And then it went down again,’ said Mrs Crosland.
‘It was shaking the whole time and there was this huge drop and everyone was screaming.
The shaking of the plane sent trays of food flying all over the cabin.
‘I honestly thought we were going to die,’ said Mrs Crosland. ‘I held him close to me and thought we were going to die and “this is it”.
‘The passengers were all looking at each other and we were all thinking “we’re all going to die at sea”.
When the young mother realized that she was not sitting with her partner and son, she thought: ‘I’m dying and I won’t see them.’
Mrs Crosland, who is British but now runs a hair salon business in Australia, sat with Harper, who was sleeping in a bassinet – but her partner Henry Trier, 32, and their son Hugo (left), the three sat in the back row (family photo at the airport before the flight)
Ms Crosland praised the care and professionalism of the ‘amazing’ BA crew who immediately attended to their injured colleagues and helped frightened passengers.
The Boeing 777-300ER was over the Andaman Sea and flying over the Bay of Bengal when it hit turbulence that the airline had not experienced in the ‘last five years’ and the intensity was ‘obscene’, according to The Sun
The flight was forced to return to Singapore around 3am on Friday where the aircraft was checked for structural damage.
Ms Crosland praised the care and professionalism of the ‘wonderful’ BA crew who immediately attended to their injured colleagues and helped frightened passengers.
He said: ‘The crew were very professional and very organized and really kept it together. They were amazing and very helpful.’
One of the in-flight team suffered a dislocated ankle and another is now undergoing an MRI to check for serious injuries to his hip.
And another crew member remained in hospital yesterday after undergoing surgery on their ankle and femur.
Another passenger, Tom Owens, 27, explained to MailOnline how he saw the crew member, who had a food trolley, fly through the air and hit his ankle.
‘His leg was at a 90 degree angle to his leg,’ Mr Owens said.
‘He was shouting for the crew to come and help,’ he said. As the disturbance subsided they went to check on him.
Fortunately a doctor in the opposite row was able to ‘stabilize the injured cabin crew member and get his leg in a good position’.
Shocked passengers were accommodated in hotels and rebooked on the next flight.
Mrs Crosland, a frequent flyer, bravely arranged a later flight so she could take her family to the UK to visit her mother-in-law for her 60th birthday, but she worries about pockets of turbulence she usually doesn’t notice.
Somehow, both her children managed to sleep during the tragic incident.
However, he said that across one drop ‘a little girl was going “wee” – I think it was like a rollercoaster’.
The crew on board flight BA12 from Singapore to London Heathrow were injured after the plane hit ‘severe’ and ‘sustained’ turbulence over the Bay of Bengal.
The Boeing 777-300ER was over the Andaman Sea and flying over the Bay of Bengal when it hit turbulence (file photo).
A British Airways spokesman said: ‘Safety is always our priority and we are looking after our crew following serious turbulence on one of our flights.
‘Our highly trained team on board reassured customers and the aircraft returned to Singapore as a precaution.
‘We have apologized to customers for the delay in their flights and provided them with hotel accommodation and information on their consumer rights.
‘We are rebooking customers on the next available flights with us and other airlines.’
The plane is now understood to be returning to London with no passengers and a reduced crew.
Severe disturbances increased by 55 percent between 1979 and 2020 and are expected to become more intense, more frequent, and longer lasting in the future.
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