Old Singapore Airlines footage recirculates after flight's high-altitude ordeal in 2024

Published on May 24, 2024 at 10:56
3 min read
By Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE, AFP Thailand

Old footage showing items scattered on a Singapore Airlines plane cabin's floor has been viewed more than one million times in posts falsely linking it to a flight that hit extreme turbulence over Asia on May 21, 2024. The clip, however, has circulated since 2013 in reports about another Singapore Airlines flight that was rocked by turbulence during the breakfast service.

"Life or death moment! Images of SQ321 #SingaporeAirline after encountering turbulence," read the caption of a Thai-language TikTok post published by Thai news outlet One 31 on May 21, 2024.

The superimposed text in the video also shows text that read: "May 21, 2024. SQ321 aircraft after encountering turbulence."

Screenshot of the false TikTok post, taken May 23, 2024

The post -- viewed more than 1.2 million times -- featured a 26-second clip of an air stewardess walking along a plane aisle strewn with food, drinks, and personal belongings, before cutting to more footage showing other parts of an aircraft’s messy interior.

A 73-year-old British man died and over 104 others were injured after Singapore Airlines Flight SQ321 was hit by extreme turbulence over Myanmar on May 21.

The same video has also been shared with a similar false claim it shows the May 21 incident in other Thai posts here and here; and in Arabic here and here.

Flight turbulence in 2013

However, keyword searches on Google found a higher-quality version of the first part of the footage uploaded in 2013 by Jonny Taylor on YouTube and video agency Newsflare (archived links here and here).

In the YouTube caption, Taylor described the incident, writing: "I was on the Singapore Airlines flight SQ308 from Singapore to London.

"The plane just dropped out of the air! The crew were really good and everyone joined in cleaning up the mess, which took about 5 hours to clean! It smelt pretty bad as well!! Noodles and Shrimp dumplings everywhere!!!"

The footage shows a flight attendant wearing Singapore Airlines' distinctive sarong kebaya (archived link).

According to the Newsflare article, the video shows the aftermath of turbulence that injured 11 passengers and one crew member on a flight from Singapore to London on May 26, 2013.

Below are screenshot comparisons between the false TikTok post (left) and Taylor's YouTube video (right):

Screenshot comparisons between the false TikTok post (left) and the YouTube video published on 2013 (right)

According to a report by US broadcaster NBC News, passengers on the flight experienced strong turbulence on the London-bound aircraft on May 26, 2013 (archived link).

The incident caused an altitude drop that sent passengers flying towards the ceiling and meal trays into the aisle, the report said.

Eleven passengers and one crew member sustained minor injuries, Singapore Airlines spokesman Nicholas Ionides told NBC News.

Recent footage

AFP found no earlier instances of the second clip in the false posts published before May 21, 2024.

It corresponds with footage posted on the Guardian Australia's YouTube channel on May 22, 2024 (archived link).

The YouTube video's description read, "Singapore Airlines flight SQ 321 was bound for Singapore from London when it hit severe turbulence, leading to the death of a British tourist who was travelling to Australia."

Screenshot of the YouTube video published by Guardian Australia, captured on May 23, 2024

The clip featured a watermark for the Thai news website Matichon Online in its top right-hand corner. The Thai media outlet included the same footage in its May 21 report about flight SQ 321 here (archived link).

AFP has debunked other false claims related to Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 here and here.

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