Grandfather died on Singapore Airlines flight as a result of ‘physiological effect’ from turbulence

A grandfather died from heart failure caused by the “physiological effect” of severe turbulence on a Singapore Airlines flight, a coroner has concluded.

Geoff Kitchen was on the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft bound for Singapore when it plunged 178ft in under five seconds after likely being impacted by a “rapidly growing cloud”, said an investigation report published this year.

The retired insurance professional suffered heart failure in the traumatic event, which also injured 72 passengers, 51 seriously including the 73-year-old’s wife, Linda, who suffered spinal fractures.

The couple from Thornbury near Bristol were embarking on a six-week holiday around Singapore, Indonesia and Australia.

At an inquest at Avon Coroners’ Court on Wednesday afternoon, Dr Peter Harrowing read out evidence from Mr Kitchen’s GP that said he had undergone surgery for a critical coronary artery lesion in 2019. But after review in 2023 for ischemic heart disease, he was found to not be experiencing any problems.

The hearing then heard a statement from pathologist Dr Edward Stafford who said such a condition could increase the risk of sudden death in incidents of aircraft turbulence with stress causing the release of adrenaline which could impact the heart.

Dr Stafford, who carried out a postmortem on Mr Kitchen, gave the cause of death as cardiac failure due to coronary artery atheroma and physiological effect of aircraft turbulence.

After hearing the evidence, Dr Harrowing said: “Whilst Dr Sheffield says there is an increased risk of sudden unexpected cardiac death in someone such as Geoff with underlying coronary artery disease, I’m satisfied that it was the physiological effect of aircraft turbulence which precipitated the cardiac arrest and ultimately Geoff’s demise.”

The inquest also heard a statement read out on behalf of Ms Kitchen, 74, who was at hearing. After suffering injuries she was taken to intensive care in Bangkok, where the plane landed, before being flown back to the UK 10 days later to continue her recovery.

She described she had been watching a film when the turbulence hit the flight.

“The next thing I remember was feeling a huge drop and an incredible pain across by back,” she said. “I was screaming and I thought the plane was going down.”

Mr Kitchen fell on her lap before two passengers moved him back into his chair, where his head “flopped forward”, she said. She was moved across the aisle to be treated for a head wound while CPR was carried out on her husband.

“A GP spoke to me, but no-one told me my husband had died,” she said.

The full investigation report into the incident was published by the Singapore Transport Safety Investigation Bureau in May. It concluded that that the aircraft encountered severe turbulence over Myanmar.

Investigators said it was “likely” the flight was impacted by a rise in air from a fast-growing cloud it was passing over.

In conclusion, Dr Harrowing said: “At first blush one might consider natural causes being an appropriate cause of death. That does not take account of the events that occurred of the severe turbulence to which Geoff was subjected.

“I shall record that Geoffrey Kitchen died of cardiac failure as a result of the aircraft for which he was a passenger encountering severe turbulence.”

Mr Kitchen, who was a father of two and grandfather of four, was well-known for his work with Thornbury Musical Theatre Group, which after his death paid tribute to a “gentleman with the utmost honesty and integrity”.

Ms Kitchen is among several UK victims of the incident to have launched legal action against Singapore Airlines for personal injury damages. Others to have launched legal action against Singapore Airlines include Bradley Richards, Jack Jenkins, Hannah Fullerton, Andrew Dawood, Bryan Matthews and Pauline and Michael Rainey, according to court records.