A flight attendant needed surgery and 4 others were also injured by severe turbulence on a flight from Singapore to London
- A British Airways flight turned around after encountering severe turbulence, The Sun reported.
- A source told Insider a crew member needed surgery on her ankle after the turbulence.
A British Airways flight was forced to turn back when it ran into severe turbulence at 30,000 feet, leaving one crew member needing surgery.
The Sun first reported that BA flight 12 from Singapore Changi to London Heathrow Airport on Friday encountered severe turbulence over the Bay of Bengal, injuring five flight attendants.
A source told The Sun the turbulence suffered by the aircraft was "obscene."
"From nowhere, the plane was shaking as it suddenly dropped five feet and rose again in uncomfortable jerked motions. There were screams from the passengers and great upset spread through the cabins," the person told the outlet.
Data from Flight Aware, a website that tracks aircraft movements, showed the Boeing 777 had been in the air for almost three hours when it turned around.
A person familiar with the incident told Insider that the flight returned to Singapore because of the turbulence. One flight attendant required surgery on her ankle from injuries sustained on the flight.
A British Airways representative said: "Safety is always our priority and we're looking after our crew after one of our flights experienced a rare episode of severe turbulence. Our highly trained team on board reassured customers and the aircraft returned to Singapore as a precaution.
"We've apologised to customers for the delay to their flight and provided them with hotel accommodation and information on their consumer rights. We're rebooking customers onto the next available flights with us and other airlines."
Pilots use monitoring systems to track the potential for turbulence, but clear-air turbulence is less predictable and harder to spot.
Reports of severe air turbulence rose 50% in the past 40 years, with some blaming climate change.