A couple injured when a Singapore Airlines flight was hit by severe turbulence have finally arrived home – as the husband said he felt ‘guilty’ about the serious injury his wife sustained in the terrifying incident.
Keith Davis, 59, from Adelaide, and his wife Kerry Jordan were on their way home from a holiday in the UK when flight SQ321 suddenly plunged 54metres in just 4.6 seconds.
The Boeing 777-300ER plane carrying 211 passengers, including 56 Australians and 18 crew, was travelling from London to Singapore on May 23.
Passengers were thrown to the ceiling, suffering severe injuries, while 73-year-old British man, Geoffrey Kitchen, died from a suspected heart attack.
After encountering turbulence over Myanmar, the aircraft was diverted to Bangkok for an emergency landing.
Thirty passengers were taken to hospital, with seven in critical condition.
Mr Davis is recovering from superficial injuries including cuts and bruises, while his wife Kerry, a dance teacher at Mitcham Girls High School, suffered a severe spinal injury and lost feeling below the waist in the horrifying incident.
Mr Davis is recovering from superficial injuries including cuts and bruises. ‘To be very frank, personally, I feel very guilty that I am able to stand here and walk around and talk to you guys,’ he said outside Royal Adelaide Hospital
Keith Davis (pictured), 59, from Adelaide and his wife Kerry Jordan (pictured) were on their way home from a holiday in the UK
Singapore Airlines Flight SQ321 suddenly plunged 54metres in just 4.6 seconds after encountering severe turbulence over Myanmar
Although overjoyed to be home, Mr Davis (pictured) said his primary focus was his wife
The couple arrived in Adelaide on Wednesday, with Ms Jordan being admitted to Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Although overjoyed to be home, Mr Davis said his primary focus was his wife who has a ‘severe spinal injury’, and still has no sensation from the waist down.
‘In terms of her condition, we’re maximising what we can achieve … but we’re not talking days, we’re not talking weeks, we’re talking months, if not beyond that,’ he said during a press conference at the RAH.
‘Kerry is still carrying the physical trauma … but we’re just really just grateful to be home and have all that family and love.’
Mr Davis expressed guilt that he is ok, but his wife is not.
‘To be very frank, personally, I feel very guilty that I am able to stand here and walk around and talk to you guys.
‘I am absolutely humbled by Kerry’s strength and courage to endure the trial of this last week, it just has been phenomenal and I know that that strength and courage will continue to carry us through,’ he said. ‘In terms of post-surgery, it was a good result to get her stable.’
Mr Davies said even after what they had been through, his wife was ‘still carrying the essence of who she is’ and that at the end of the day ‘Kerry is still Kerry’.
He praised the ‘magnificent work of LifeFlight to repatriate them from Thailand.
Mr Davis had earlier blasted Singapore Airlines after the pair were admitted to hospital in Bangkok.
He said there had been no communication from them about what they had to do.
‘I called Singapore Airlines as soon as we’d been admitted to hospital and they said they’d call back. Then I called them again that night, they said they’d be calling back,’ he told The Advertiser.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong contacted the couple a day later and spoke with three Australians were in ICU.
Preliminary findings from an investigation into the Singapore Airlines flight reveal a rapid change in gravitational force and a 54m altitude drop was the cause for the catastrophic injuries.
‘The aircraft experienced a rapid change in G (gravitational force) … This likely resulted in the occupants who were not belted up to become airborne,’ Singapore’s Transport Ministry said in a statement on a report by the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau.
‘The vertical acceleration changed from negative 1.5G to positive 1.5G within four seconds.
‘This likely resulted in the occupants who were airborne to fall back down,’ it said, citing information extracted from the flight data and cockpit voice recorders.
‘The rapid changes in G over the 4.6 seconds duration resulted in an altitude drop of 178ft (54m), from 37,362ft to 37,184ft. This sequence of events likely caused the injuries to the crew and passengers.’
The report was conducted by a team comprising Singaporean investigators, Boeing representatives and United States safety officials.
Singapore Airlines has acknowledged the report and is cooperating fully with the investigation.