A mother-of-two has said she thought she was ‘going to die’ after her British Airways flight from Singapore to Heathrow ‘fell out of the sky’ while cruising at 30,000 feet after being hit by the worst turbulence in ‘years’.
Jade Crosland, 31, was flying with her partner and their two young children on the BA12 flight from Singapore to Heathrow, London, when it was hit by ‘severe’ and ‘ongoing’ turbulence over the Bay of Bengal.
She clutched her one-year-old daughter Harper to her chest for life after the plane went into a “free fall” for what felt like “a thousand feet” around 3 a.m. Friday morning.
Ms Crosland, who is British but now runs a hair salon business in Australia, told MailOnline that she sat with Harper, who slept in a crib – but her partner Henry Trier, 32, and their son Hugo, three, were a few rows behind.
Mum-of-two Jade Crosland (pictured with daughter Harper, one) has said she thought she was ‘going to die’ after her British Airways flight from Singapore to Heathrow ‘fell out of the sky’ while cruising at 30,000 feet after she was hit by the worst turbulence in ‘years’
Ms Crosland was flying with her partner and their two young children on the BA12 flight (cabin pictured after returning to Singapore) from Singapore to Heathrow, London when it was hit by ‘severe’ and ‘ongoing’ turbulence over the Bay of Bengal
“In the beginning it was a completely normal flight – the cabin crew served drinks and I was half asleep and my daughter was in the crib,” she said.
“The seatbelt sign came on without notice because I was half awake, so I thought I better get Harper out because when the sign is on, you have to strap your baby to you.”
Mrs. Crosland got up to tie her daughter up, but then: ‘When I got up, the plane literally fell three hundred feet.
“Everyone flew into the air, everyone screamed.”
She said: “One of the cabin crew was knocked unconscious when a trolley hit him on the head. It all went so fast that they were still on the road with their carts.’
After the devastating bout of turbulence, the worried mother hurriedly tried to get her baby daughter out of her crib, which luckily didn’t fly out, and then tie her up, but Mrs Crosland struggled to do so in her state of panic.
“I was in complete panic when I tried to untie her and the cabin crew said ‘it’s her arm, it’s her arm!’ while I tried to get her out.’
She managed to get her daughter free in a matter of minutes and tie her up to secure her chest.
“And then it went down again,” Mrs. Crosland said.
“It was shaking all the time and there was a huge fall and everyone was screaming.
The shaking of the plane sent trays of food flying all over the cabin.
“I really thought we were going to die,” Mrs. Crosland said. “I tied her to me holding her thinking we were going to die and “this is it”.
‘The passengers all looked at each other and we all thought ‘this is it, we’re all going to go into the sea and die’.
When the young mother realized she wasn’t with her partner and son, she thought, “I’m going to die and I won’t be able to see them.”
Ms Crosland, who is British but now runs a hairdressing business in Australia, sat with Harper, who slept in a cot – but her partner Henry Trier, 32, and their son Hugo (left), three, sat a few rows back (the family pictured at the airport prior to the flight)
Ms Crosland praised the care and professionalism of the ‘wonderful’ BA crew who immediately attended to their injured colleagues and assisted frightened passengers
The Boeing 777-300ER had passed over the Andaman Sea and was flying over the Bay of Bengal when it was hit by turbulence the airline had not experienced in “the last five years” and the severity was “obscene”, according to the sun.
The flight was supposed to return to Singapore around 3 a.m. on Friday, where the plane was checked for structural damage.
Ms Crosland praised the care and professionalism of the ‘wonderful’ BA crew who immediately attended to their injured colleagues and helped frightened passengers.
She said, “The crew was very professional and very organized and really kept it together. They were great and very helpful.’
One of the crew members suffered a dislocated ankle and another is now undergoing an MRI to check for severe bruising on her hip.
And another crew member was still in hospital yesterday after surgery on their ankle and thigh.
Another passenger, 27-year-old Tom Owens, told MailOnline how he saw the crew member, who had a food trolley, fly into the air and fall back down, injuring his ankle.
“His foot was at a 90-degree angle to his leg,” Mr. Owens said.
“He yelled for the crew to come help,” he said. They went to check on him when the turbulence subsided.
Fortunately, a doctor in the opposite row was able to “stabilize the injured cabin crew member and reposition his leg.”
Stunned passengers were given hotel accommodation and rebooked on later flights.
Ms Crosland, a frequent flier, bravely arranged the next flight she could to take her family to the UK to see her mother-in-law for her 60th birthday, but feared turbulence she wouldn’t normally notice.
Somehow, both of her children managed to stay asleep during the traumatic incident.
However, she said during one of the drops “there was a little girl ‘peeing’ – I suppose it was like a rollercoaster.”
The crew, on board the BA12 flight from Singapore to Heathrow, London, was injured after the plane was hit by ‘severe’ and ‘ongoing’ turbulence over the Bay of Bengal
The Boeing 777-300ER had passed the Andaman Sea and was flying over the Bay of Bengal when it was hit by turbulence (file photo)
A British Airways spokesperson said: ‘Safety is always our priority and we are looking after our crew after one of our flights experienced a rare episode of severe turbulence.
Our well-trained team on board reassured customers and the aircraft returned to Singapore as a precaution.
“We have apologized to our customers for their flight delays and have provided them with hotel accommodation and information on their consumer rights.
“We book customers to the next available flights with us and other airlines.”
The plane would now fly back to London with no passengers and a reduced crew.
Severe turbulence has increased by 55 percent from 1979 to 2020 and is expected to become more intense, more frequent and longer lasting in the future.