UK Man Died In Flight Turbulence Tragedy Was On His 'Last Big Holiday' With Wife

A 73-year-old British citizen died on board after a London-Singapore flight, the Boeing 777-300ER, faced severe turbulence on Tuesday. He has been identified as Geoffrey Kitchen aka Geoff Kitchen. Reports suggest that Kitchen died of a suspected heart attack when the plane encountered a sudden drop in altitude mid-air which led to an emergency landing in Bangkok, Thailand.

As per the tracking data, the flight descended around 6,000 ft in just 5 minutes over the Indian Ocean before it was diverted to Bangkok. It was carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members. Around 71 passengers were injured in the horrifying incident.

Who Was Geoff Kitchen?

As per The Guardian, Kitchen was originally from Bristol and had lived in Thornbury, Gloucestershire. He is survived by his wife Linda – who was also traveling with him, a son – who runs a window cleaning business and a daughter — who lives in Whales. Reportedly, Kitchen and his wife were going on a six-week holiday together. His wife was rushed to the hospital after the emergency landing.

Kitchen was a retired insurance professional-turned-amateur dramatics performer. He had also set up Thornbury Musical Theatres Group (TMTG), according to the news portal. The TMTG, in their heartfelt tribute, described Geoffrey Kitchen as “always a gentleman with the most honesty and integrity.” The statement added, “It is with a very heavy heart that we learn of the devastating news of the passing of our esteemed colleague and friend in the recent Singapore Air incident.”

Geoffrey Kitchen’s cousin Stephen told The Independent that both Geoffrey and his wife Linda are travellers and quite adventurous. “It was sort of going to be their last big holiday,” Stephen added.

The Boeing 777 flight left Heathrow at 10:17 PM on Monday and landed in Bangkok, Thailand at 3:45 PM local time (0845 GMT).

Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong has issued a public apology to the passengers who underwent such a traumatic experience. “We are very sorry for the traumatic experience that everyone on board SQ321 went through,” he said in a video statement. He also stated that the airlines will be providing all the required assistance and will fully cooperate in any investigation into the incident.