Singapore Airlines passenger died of cardiac arrest after turbulence, inquest told

A preliminary post-mortem conducted in Thailand determined that Kitchen’s cause of death was congestive heart failure. Earlier testimony at the inquest revealed that Kitchen had undergone surgery in April 2019 to insert stents in his right coronary artery. Despite this, a follow-up evaluation in October of the same year indicated that he had regained “normal exercise capacity,” according to a statement from his general practitioner.

Dr. Edward Sheffield, who carried out an additional post-mortem examination on Kitchen’s body in Bristol, concluded that the cause of death was cardiac failure linked to coronary artery atheroma and the physiological impact of turbulence. The inquest also reviewed a report describing the incident on the aircraft, which Harrowing partially presented. According to the report, 56 passengers sustained serious injuries, 23 suffered minor injuries, and Kitchen was the lone fatality.

The report detailed that the aircraft was cruising at an altitude of 37,000 feet (approximately 11,277.6 meters) while approaching the west coast of southwest Myanmar. At 07:49 GMT, after passing a specific waypoint, the plane encountered severe turbulence. The report noted that by 07:53, the aircraft had regained stability.

Following this event, the crew issued a Mayday distress signal at 08:01, requesting an emergency diversion to Bangkok. The aircraft successfully landed there at 08:45, where medical teams were immediately available to attend to the injured passengers

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