Grandfather Dies on Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER After Cardiac Arrest from Turbulence

A coroner concluded that severe turbulence aboard a Singapore Airlines flight precipitated the cardiac arrest that killed Geoff Kitchen, 73, on May 21, 2024. Kitchen was travelling from London Heathrow to Singapore when the Boeing 777-300ER encountered turbulence over Myanmar.

The finding came at Avon Coroners’ Court. Dr Peter Harrowing read it aloud, concluding that turbulence’s physiological effects led to the fatal event.

Kitchen came from Thornbury, south Gloucestershire. He was a retired insurance professional.

The inquest also examined his heart condition. It heard that he had undergone surgery in 2019 for a critical coronary artery lesion.

The inquest weighed turbulence against Kitchen’s coronary disease

Dr Edward Sheffield, a consultant pathologist, gave the cause of death as cardiac failure due to coronary artery atheroma and the physiological effects of airplane turbulence. The medical evidence included both his underlying condition and the physical effects of the flight.

Harrowing addressed the assessment of risk and the cause of death in his finding:

“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 coroner’s conclusion identified turbulence as the event that precipitated Kitchen’s death, while acknowledging the increased risk associated with his coronary disease. The distinction formed part of the inquest’s medical assessment.

Sheffield’s evidence also described the cause as cardiac failure linked to coronary artery atheroma and turbulence. That assessment followed Kitchen’s earlier heart surgery.

The aircraft dropped 178 feet in less than five seconds

The aircraft fell 178 feet in under five seconds after it was likely affected by a rapidly growing cloud over Myanmar. The sudden drop occurred during the turbulence that led to the coroner’s finding.

The incident injured 72 passengers. Of those, 51 were seriously injured.

Kitchen’s wife, Linda, was among those hurt. She suffered spinal fractures in the same incident.

The reported fall provides a measure of how abruptly conditions changed aboard the flight. The inquest evidence linked the turbulence’s physical effects to Kitchen’s death, while the passenger injury toll shows the wider impact on those aboard.

Two post-mortem examinations reached the finding by different routes

An initial post-mortem examination in Thailand found that Kitchen died from congestive heart failure. A later examination in Bristol linked his death to the combined effects of underlying coronary disease and turbulence-related physiological stress.

The later assessment was consistent with the coroner’s conclusion that turbulence precipitated the fatal event. It also placed Kitchen’s existing heart condition within the medical account presented at the inquest.

His surgery for a critical coronary artery lesion in 2019 was relevant to that assessment. The inquest heard evidence from Sheffield, a consultant pathologist, before Harrowing delivered the finding.

Linda Kitchen joined a damages claim after suffering spinal fractures

Linda Kitchen has since joined legal action against the carrier, seeking personal injury damages. She was injured in the same turbulence incident that killed her husband.

The case follows an event that injured 72 passengers, including 51 seriously. Kitchen’s death was attributed by the coroner to the physiological effects of the turbulence, with his coronary artery disease also part of the medical evidence.