Thailand has received widespread praise for its swift and efficient response to the emergency when a Singapore Airlines flight was slammed by severe turbulence over Myanmar on May 21.
Leading the medical emergency operation after Flight SQ321 diverted to Suvarnabhumi Airport was Dr Wichanya Burirak – who also happens to be a big fan of flying.
Chiang Mai University was quick to express appreciation for Wichanya, an alumnus of its Faculty of Medicine, after she took charge as the on-scene commander.
“There was a commotion with all sorts of people walking and running around,” said Wichanya, describing the scene that greeted her as the drama unfolded at Thailand’s main airport.
What happened?
On May 21, Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 encountered severe turbulence en route from London to Singapore.
Responding to reports of injuries among passengers and crew, the pilots diverted to Bangkok for an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi.
“Initially our team was told the aircraft would arrive around 4pm, but it landed early at 3.51pm. That meant we had just 20 minutes to prepare [our emergency response],” Wichanya said.
The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft was carrying 229 people including crew at the time of the incident.
Just before entering the aircraft, Wichanya received a report that one passenger had died.
As she inspected the scene inside, the violence of what had occurred was obvious in the number of passengers with injuries – many of them severe.
“After assessing the situation, I contacted Suvarnabhumi Airport’s director [Kittipong Kittikachorn] and requested approval to implement the plan for a mass casualty incident,” she said.
On-scene commander
Given the green light, Wichanya called in not just her whole medical team at Suvarnabhumi but also paramedics from Samitivej Hospital as well as rescuers, a transport team, and more.
“We quickly identified the passengers with serious injuries for emergency transfer to hospital,” she said.
The operation proceeded swiftly, with police clearing the traffic for ambulances to transport injured passengers and crew from the airport to the Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, 19 kilometres away.
The trip took just 15 minutes, half the time usually needed.
“Our plan called for the transfer of all injured passengers to hospital within two hours of landing,” Wichanya said.
On board SQ321 as it suddenly plummeted from 37,000 feet, launching people into the ceiling, were passengers from 16 countries.
The biggest contingent was Australians with 56 passengers, followed by Britons (47).
Others came from Singapore (41), New Zealand (23), Malaysia (16), Philippines (5), the United States (4), Ireland (4), India (3), two each from Myanmar, Indonesia, Canada and Spain, and one each from Israel, Iceland, and South Korea.
As of Sunday evening, Singapore Airlines said 40 passengers and one crew member were still receiving treatment at the hospital in Bangkok.
Twenty-two were being treated for spinal and spinal cord injuries, six for skull and brain injuries, and 13 for injuries to their bones, muscles and other organs.
Some of the injuries were described as life-changing. The single fatality was named as Geoff Kitchen, a 73-year-old Briton.
Extensive experience
Wichanya said that in her 12 years as a physician based at Suvarnabhumi, she had treated people almost every day and encountered patients from all age groups.
She said emergency landings due to injuries from turbulence had occurred before, but nothing on the scale of the Singapore Airlines event.
“In one case, an Airbus-380 asked for permission to send just one passenger to hospital.”
Childhood passion
Wichanya credits her career in airport-based medicine to a childhood passion for airplanes.
Enchanted by her mother’s description of how houses looked tiny when viewed from an aircraft in flight, she saw magic in the great iron birds.
“I have enjoyed watching planes since childhood,” she said.
Growing up, she satisfied her passion by studying about aircraft and airlines.
Her schoolmates were well aware of her hobby but knew she was also a high-flying student.
In 2005, while studying medicine, Wichanya competed on the popular television game show “Fan Pan Tae” (Hardcore Fan) and claimed the title of “True Fan of Airlines”.
By Thai PBS World’s General Desk
