Briton who died on Singapore Airlines flight was ‘remarkable man’
A BRITISH man who died when a flight to Singapore was hit by severe turbulence was “the most wonderful human being that you could ever know”, a friend has said.
Geoff Kitchen, 73, suffered a suspected heart attack on the Singapore Airlines flight from Heathrow, and seven other people were seriously hurt.
Dozens more suffered minor injuries.
Lizzie Atkins, a friend of Mr
Kitchen, said he and his wife had been planning to go on a cruise in Indonesia before travelling to Australia, describing the pair as “adventurous travellers”.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I just can’t believe that I’m having to do this. He was the most wonderful human being that you could ever know, really one of the top ones – he was stable and reliable and you always knew you were in safe hands with Geoff. He was just a remarkable man, really.
“He had a really dry sense of humour and he had a twinkle in his eye. Every time you saw him you just knew he was going to make a funny joke.”
She added that he was a “staunch supporter” of Thornbury Musical Theatre Group in Thornbury, north of Bristol, where the pair met around two decades ago.
Mr Kitchen had been its secretary, treasurer and chairman, she said, adding: “He would do anything for you, anything for the group – he was just amazing.”
Thornbury Musical Theatre Group described Mr Kitchen as “a gentleman with the utmost honesty and integrity”.
Singapore Airlines said the flight encountered “sudden extreme turbulence” at 37,000ft above Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Basin about 10 hours after departure, with the pilot declaring a medical emergency and diverting the plane to Bangkok.