B773, en-route, South China Sea Vietnam 2011

B773, en-route, South China Sea Vietnam 2011

Summary

On 17 October 2011, a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300 in the cruise at night with a Training Captain in command made what turned out to be an insufficient deviation around a potential source of turbulence and, with the seat belt signs remaining off, a number of cabin crew and passenger injuries were sustained during sudden brief but severe turbulence encounter. The Operator subsequently introduced enhanced pilot training to support more effective weather avoidance and better use of the various types of weather radar fitted to aircraft in their 777 fleet.

Description

On 17 October 2011, a Boeing 777-300 being operated by Singapore Airlines on a passenger flight from Shanghai to Singapore with line training in progress and a Safety Pilot present on the flight deck encountered a very brief period of unexpectedly severe turbulence whilst in the cruise at FL350 in night Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) and a small loss of altitude resulted. Sixteen unsecured passengers and five members of the cabin crew sustained mainly minor injuries but after assessment, it was determined that the flight to destination should be completed as planned and this was accomplished without further event.

Investigation

The event occurred in Vietnamese airspace but the Investigation was carried out by the AAIB of the Singapore Ministry of Transport as State of the Operator. DFDR and QAR data for the event were downloaded by the Operator and copies provided to the Investigation.

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