Singapore Airlines and Scoot Turbulence Incidents Injured Cabin Crew, TSIB Finds

Singapore Airlines (SQ) and its low-cost subsidiary Scoot (TR) both recorded turbulence encounters in June 2025 that Singapore’s aviation safety authorities classified as accidents. One involved a Scoot Boeing 787-8 over the South China Sea on June 9 to 10, and the other involved an SIA Airbus A350-900 descending into Shanghai on June 27. According to a report from The Straits Times, both events resulted in injuries to crew members.

Singapore’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and the country’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) handle occurrence classification for Singapore-registered aircraft. An occurrence is labeled an accident once at least one occupant sustains a serious injury, a threshold both June 2025 events met. Neither flight suffered structural damage, and both aircraft completed their journeys without further incident.

What Happened on Scoot Flight TR100 Over the South China Sea

Scoot Flight TR100 encountered a sudden turbulence event while cruising at 39,000 feet en route from Singapore to Guangzhou on June 9, 2025, injuring two cabin crew members. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had departed Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) at 05:37 local time and was flying normally as it entered Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Flight Information Region (FIR), where the crew began monitoring scattered weather along the route.

Initially, the weather directly ahead appeared clear, and the fasten seat belt sign remained off in its automatic mode as the aircraft transitioned from visual to instrument meteorological conditions. As the flight continued, the first officer detected green weather returns on the aircraft’s weather radar roughly 8 to 10 nautical miles ahead. After both pilots reduced the radar display range, they confirmed a patch of weather directly along their flight path.

Concerned that turbulence might lie ahead, the crew slowed the aircraft from Mach 0.86 to the recommended turbulence penetration speed of Mach 0.84 and intended to request a deviation from air traffic control. However, heavy radio congestion prevented them from contacting controllers in time. Believing the weather echoes represented a manageable area, the captain elected to continue on course while switching on the seat belt signs as a precaution.

According to Aviation Safety Network, before the captain could make a public announcement instructing the cabin crew to stop service and take their seats, the aircraft was hit by 32 seconds of turbulence. During the encounter, the aircraft briefly climbed about 200 feet above its assigned altitude as the first officer momentarily deployed the speed brakes to reduce airspeed.

At the time, meal service had already concluded, and cabin crew members were either tidying the cabin or eating in the forward and aft galleys. Several crew members were thrown into the air before landing on the cabin floor, with two crew members in the rear galley sustaining injuries serious enough to prevent them from continuing their duties. Despite the incident, the aircraft continued to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, where it landed safely and the injured crew members were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Investigators concluded that the turbulence was most likely associated with areas of medium to dense cloud near the aircraft rather than any mechanical issue. They also found that although the pilots had identified deteriorating weather and illuminated the seat belt signs, there was insufficient time to warn the cabin crew before the turbulence struck. The investigation highlighted the importance of taking an even more conservative approach when operating near convective weather, recommending that flight crews activate the seat belt signs and alert cabin crew at the earliest opportunity whenever weather conditions become uncertain.

What Happened on SIA Flight SQ832 Near Shanghai

Singapore Airlines Flight SQ832 encountered severe turbulence while descending toward Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) on June 27, 2025, leaving one cabin crew member seriously injured. The Airbus A350-900, registered 9V-SMB, was passing through approximately 27,000 feet during the final stages of its descent when it was struck by the turbulence.

According to Singapore’s transport safety investigators, the aircraft began its descent at about 0911 hrs after receiving clearance from Shanghai radar control. Aware of deteriorating weather conditions, the pilot-in-command kept the fasten seat belt signs illuminated and instructed passengers to remain seated with their seat belts fastened, while cabin crew continued their normal in-flight duties.

As the flight progressed, the crew detected two significant storm cells along the planned arrival route using the aircraft’s weather radar. A 20-nautical-mile-wide gap appeared to offer a safe passage between the cells, and because it was visible both on the radar display and through the cockpit windshield, the crew elected to navigate through it.

Once the aircraft entered cloud, however, the pilots lost visual reference to the weather and relied exclusively on the weather radar. After emerging from the cloud layer, they discovered the aircraft had drifted much closer to the left-hand storm cell than anticipated. The crew immediately initiated a heading change to increase separation from the weather, but moments later, while descending through 27,500 feet, the aircraft encountered severe turbulence that seriously injured a member of the cabin crew.

Singapore’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) classified the event as an accident and launched a formal investigation. Investigators reported no damage to the aircraft, indicating that the injuries resulted solely from the turbulence encounter rather than any mechanical malfunction or flight crew error. The occurrence came just 18 days after a similar turbulence event involving a Scoot flight, reinforcing regulators’ concerns that severe turbulence can cause serious injuries even when an aircraft is operating normally and following established weather-avoidance procedures.

Why These Incidents Draw Extra Scrutiny After SQ321

Both June 2025 events happened a little over a year after Singapore Airlines Flight 321, the incident that reset how the industry talks about turbulence risk. On May 21, 2024, a Boeing 777-300ER flying from London Heathrow to Singapore hit severe turbulence over Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Basin, killing one passenger and injuring 79 others. TSIB’s final report, released in May 2026, found that the crew’s actions in the moment had been “understandable and appropriate,”. 

That finding does not erase the broader trend. TSIB’s SQ321 investigation reviewed roughly 29,000 Singapore Airlines flights between May 2023 and July 2025 and found more than 100 reported radar issues tied to weather. Three of those flights had used the same flight path later flown by SQ321. Singapore Airlines changed its cabin service rules after SQ321, suspending meal service whenever the seatbelt sign is on, specifically to reduce injury risk during unexpected turbulence.

A Pattern of Turbulence Accidents Across the SIA Group

The June 2025 events extend a run of turbulence-related occurrences across Singapore Airlines and Scoot going back two years. Confirmed accidents include:

• May 21, 2024: SQ321, Boeing 777-300ER, severe turbulence over Myanmar; one fatality, 79 injured.
• September 6, 2024: Scoot TR100, Boeing 787-9, turbulence on approach to Guangzhou; four passengers and three crew members received medical attention.
• June 9-10, 2025: Scoot TR100, Boeing 787-8, turbulence over the South China Sea; at least one occupant seriously injured.
• June 27, 2025: SIA SQ832, Airbus A350-900, turbulence on descent into Shanghai; one occupant seriously injured.

Four accidents in just over two years, spread across three different aircraft types, suggest the risk is not tied to any one airframe or route. Investigators have instead pointed to broader patterns in atmospheric turbulence detection and cabin procedure timing.

Why Clear-Sir Turbulence is Hard for Crews to Detect

Several of these SIA Group events involved clear-air turbulence, a phenomenon that produces no visual warning such as clouds. Onboard weather radar is designed to detect precipitation and moisture, not the wind-shear conditions that cause clear-air turbulence. Crews can therefore fly directly into it even when the radar screen shows nothing unusual ahead.

This detection gap explains why airlines have shifted toward procedural fixes rather than relying solely on technology. Keeping seatbelt signs on longer during cruise and descent, and pausing cabin service during periods of possible instability, both reduce the odds that an occupant is unsecured when turbulence strikes. The two June 2025 accidents occurred during exactly the flight phases, cruise and descent, where these procedural changes matter most.

All in All

Singapore’s AAIB continues to investigate the SQ832 accident, and the NTSB-logged Scoot TR100 event remains on record as an accident pending any further review.

Neither investigation has produced a public final report as of this writing. Singapore Airlines and Scoot have not disclosed the exact number of people treated in either June 2025 event.