Frightened flyers renew Boeing boycott after Singapore Airlines disaster flight where turbulence killed passenger and left others covered in blood

Flyers have vowed to double down on their  boycott of Boeing after a Singapore Airlines flight ended in disaster when it hit turbulence, killing a passenger.

The aircraft hit an air pocket and plummeted an astonishing 6,000ft in just five minutes during the flight from London to Singapore. 

The sudden drop unleashed mayhem onboard and forced the plane to make an emergency landing at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. 

Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, has since been identified as the British musical theater director who died aboard the Boeing 777 plane on Tuesday.

Social media users have vowed to steer clear of boarding Boeing jets after a spate of well-publicized safety blunders involving the aviation giant's jets. 

The sudden drop unleashed mayhem onboard and forced the plane to make an emergency landing at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi

Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, has since been identified as the British passenger who died aboard the Boeing 777 plane 

On X, formerly known as Twitter, users said they would never fly on a Boeing plane again after the incident. 

One person wrote: 'I am never flying Boeing again', while another commented: 'I'm actually never flying on a Boeing again'. 

Another said: 'When I book a flight in 2024. Nonstop. Aisle seat. Not a Boeing plane. Then recheck number 3. Triple check it's not a Boeing.'

The Boeing share price took a hit this morning after the incident aboard the flight, but has since recovered. Hitting a low of $183.11, before rising to $186.39.

Questions over safety have plagued the manufacturer ever since a door plug blew out of a 737 Max on an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

Pilots were able to land the plane safely, but the incident has cast Boeing into its deepest crisis since the deadly crashes of two Max jets in 2018 and 2019, blamed on a substandard computer system. 

Current and former Boeing employees have accused the company of taking safety shortcuts. 

The Arlington, Virginia-based company is under investigations by the FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Justice Department. 

The flight experienced severe turbulence while flying close to Myanmar airspace in a region currently being battered by extreme tropical thunderstorms. 

Pictured: The plane and ambulances are seen on the tarmac at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok

Social media users have vowed to steer clear of boarding Boeing jets after the incident

One man who said he was on the flight took to X to describe the incident onboard the flight.

Andrew Davies, from London, wrote that he and other passengers who were not injured in the turbulence were currently waiting in a holding area at the airport.

'Lots of people [are] injured - including the air stewards who were stoic and did everything they could,' he wrote.

'Bangkok emergency services [were] quick to respond. Very little warning. The seat-belt sign came on, I put on my seat-belt straight away then the plane just dropped.'

Davies wrote that 'passengers with medical training' were working to help the injured in the aftermath of the plane dropping.

'CPR on the poor gentleman that passed. Another passenger laid flat in [the] aisle further behind me. Not sure what happened with them,' he said.

'People's belongings scattered, coffee and water splattered the ceiling. Surreal. So many injured people. Head lacerations, bleeding ears. A lady was screaming in pain with a bad back. I couldn't help her - just got her water.'

He said that he wished he could have done more to help, adding: 'My heart goes out to the gentleman who lost his life and his poor wife. Awful experience.'

Passengers are seen on the Singapore Airlines plane after it made an emergency landing in Bangkok today. Oxygen masks fell from the ceiling, as did other components

More than 70 people were injured in the incident, with Mr Kitchen's wife Linda thought to be among those in hospital. Her condition is not known.

Tributes have poured in for Kitchen, who ran Thornbury Musical Theatre group and is said to be a grandfather, with friends describing him as 'a really nice guy'.

The retired insurance worker and his wife were heading abroad on a six-week holiday of a lifetime to South East Asia, Indonesia and Australia when disaster struck.

Marco Chan, Senior Lecturer in Aviation Operations at Buckinghamshire New University, told DailyMail.com that incidents involving extreme turbulence tend to occur when a plane is navigating through thunderstorms. 

On the plane involved in today's incident also being a Boeing, Mr Chan noted: 'The aircraft in question is a Boeing 777-300ER, a manufacturer that has already hit the headlines. 

'It must be emphasized that such incidents can happen to any flights and any manufacturer's aircraft.'

This photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the door plug from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Jan. 8, 2024, in Portland, Oregon

Boeing expressed its condolences following Tuesday's incident, saying: 'We extend our deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one and our thoughts are with the passengers and crew,' Boeing said.

Turbulence-related airline accidents are the most common type, according to a 2021 study by the National Transportation Safety Board.

From 2009 through 2018, the US agency found that turbulence accounted for more than a third of reported airline accidents and most resulted in one or more serious injuries, but no aircraft damage.

Boeing CEO David Calhoun, who will step down at the end of the year, has said many times that Boeing is taking steps to improve its manufacturing quality and safety culture.

He called the blowout on the Alaska jet a 'watershed moment' from which a better Boeing will emerge. There is plenty of skepticism about comments like that.