Twelve Australian citizens and one permanent resident remain in Thailand hospitals after sustaining injuries on a Singapore Airlines flight that hit severe turbulence.
Three of those patients are in intensive care units.
One man told 9News he had five family members on board, four of whom were injured, including his wife, who suffered a broken jaw.
Passenger Josh Silverstone was lucky to walk out of hospital with just a chipped tooth and cut eye after he hit his head.
He said he was scared of flying before the incident and is “even more scared now”.
“A lot of people have got some spinal issues from hitting their head and connecting back down, so they’ve had quite a few scans,” Silverstone said.
“There were a lot of people can barely move their back and I am very fortunate to be able to walk and come out here only really 24 hours later.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed earlier that the injured Australians were receiving treatment in Bangkok Hospitals, while another was hospitalised and had since been discharged.
“The Australian government offers its sympathies to those affected by the Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 incident,” a spokesperson for the department said.
“Consular officials from the Australian embassy in Bangkok are providing consular assistance to Australians affected by the incident including 12 Australian citizens and one permanent resident in hospital in Bangkok.
“One other Australian was hospitalised after the incident but has now been discharged.
“Australians in need of emergency consular assistance should contact the Australian Government’s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305 (from overseas) or 1300 555 135 (from within Australia).”
Newlyweds Ali and Ramiza Bukhari are physically fine but “traumatised” after the plane dropped while they were on their way home from their honeymoon in Iceland.
“At that moment both of us just assumed the worst. I was sort of preparing to say goodbye. We just didn’t know the extent of the situation,” Ali said.
“I was just doing my best to try and comfort my wife to let her know that everything is going to be okay.”
The first Australians who were not harmed in the incident began returning to Sydney last night, with more flights expected to land in the next 24 hours.
A total of 211 people were on the flight, including 56 Australians.
Flight SQ321 dropped 6000 feet after hitting clear air turbulence on Monday night, resulting in dozens of injuries and one death.
