BNU senior aviation lecturer provides expert commentary across national news outlets
Marco Chan, Senior Lecturer in Aviation Operations at Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) and experienced pilot, featured live on Sky News Breakfast this morning providing commentary on the Singapore Airlines incident that took place yesterday.
The near-14-hour flight departed London yesterday morning en route to Singapore when it encountered severe turbulence, reportedly dropping 6,000ft in altitude within minutes. Many passengers and crew were injured with one man having died.
Marco provided swift and expert academic commentary on the incident, providing insight into why turbulence happens, how common it is, if it can be predicted and what happens next as the investigations begin, stating: "While there is little information available at this stage, considering the approximate location of the incident, it is within the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), where thunderstorm is notorious in the region.
"With turbulence of such magnitude, it is likely the flight was navigating through difficult thunderstorms situation. The thunderstorms, bringing possible severe ice and turbulence, are prominently displayed on the pilots’ navigation display. The pilots are expected to navigate around the thunderstorms while having the seat belt sign on as a pre-caution. It may not be possible to completely circumvent the thunderstorms cluster as they can stretch well over 50 nautical miles plus due to airspace restrictions.
"The aircraft in question is a Boeing 777-300ER, a manufacturer that has already hit the headlines, it must be emphasised that such incidents can happen to any flights and any manufacturer’s aircraft.
"The crucial next steps are for Singapore Airlines to now arrange to bring the affected passengers to their initial destination - Singapore. They will also need to work with the local civil aviation authorities and investigation teams, particularly with the pilots and the cabin crew onboard (once they are recovered from the flight or any injuries sustained), to find out what happened in flight. It will also be important to analyse the in-flight data to look at the parameters of the flight to understand the effect of the turbulence and the cockpit voice recorder to understand the conversations and actions that took place during the incident."
In addition to Sky News’ broadcast coverage, Marco’s commentary was featured across several online news outlets amassing global coverage, including Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, The Standard, Daily Mail, Yahoo News and was covered by the Press Association which has led to coverage in key regional paid-for titles including the Express and Star. Marco was also featured in print in The Guardian newspaper.