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Geoffrey Kitchen was a retired insurance professional. (Representative Image)
The Boeing 777 aircraft left Heathrow at 10:17pm on Monday and landed in Bangkok, Thailand at 3:45pm local time.
A 73-year-old British citizen died on board after a London-Singapore flight, the Boeing 777-300ER, encountered severe turbulence on Tuesday. He has been known as Geoffrey Kitchen or Geoff Kitchen. Reports suggest that Kitchen died of a suspected heart attack when the plane encountered a sudden drop in altitude in mid-air which led to an emergency landing in Bangkok, Thailand.
As per the tracking data, the flight descended about 6,000 feet 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 terrifying incident.
Who Was Geoff Kitchen?
According to 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. Kitchen and his wife were reportedly going on a six-week holiday together. His wife was rushed to hospital after the emergency landing.
Kitchen was a retired professional amateur drama performer. He had also founded Thornbury Musical Theaters Group (TMTG), according to the news portal. The TMTG, in their heartfelt tribute, described Geoffrey Kitchen as “a gentleman of the utmost integrity and honesty.” The statement added, “It is with a very heavy heart that we learn of the devastating news of the death of our valued colleague and friend in the recent Singapore Air incident.”
Geoffrey Kitchen’s cousin, Stephen, told The Independent that Geoffrey and his wife Linda were travelers and quite adventurous. “It was going to be their last big holiday,” added Stephen.
The Boeing 777 flight departed Heathrow at 10:17 PM on Monday and landed in Bangkok, Thailand at 3:45 PM local time (0845 GMT).
The CEO of Singapore Airlines, Goh Choon Phong, has issued a public apology to the passengers who had such a traumatic experience. “We are very sorry for the traumatic experience everyone on board SQ321 went through,” he said in a video statement. He also said that the airlines will provide all necessary assistance and cooperate fully in any investigation into the incident.
