Airlines boss meets hospitalised Australian

An Australian passenger injured during a deadly Singapore Airlines turbulence incident has detailed the horrific moment passengers were thrown into an instant free-fall.

Keith Davis and his wife were among more than 100 people injured when the flight from London to Singapore hit severe turbulence on Tuesday.

Mr Davis said there was no warning before the plane plunged, sending dozens of passengers into the roof, and killing a man sitting in front of them.

“It was absolutely instant. We’re on the ceiling. We did not see any indication at all, we just fell into a huge hole, and we’re free-falling,” Mr Davis told ABC News on Friday morning.

He said his wife Kerry had not regained feeling below her waist, and it may be weeks before she is able to be flown back to Australia from the hospital the couple are being treated in Bangkok, where the flight was diverted.

“I was dead centre and I went up through all the vents and masks and things,” he said.

“Unfortunately for Kerry she hit the luggage doors, and instead of landing back into the seat area she fell flat straight into the aisle and from that moment, she didn’t move, that was where she remained for the rest of the flight. It was really horrifying.”

An Australian man who is among dozens injured during a Singaporean Airlines flight has met with the airline’s chief executive after raising concerns over lack of contact with the carrier and confusion over the repatriation process.

Keith Davis’ wife remains in ICU in Bangkok after severe turbulence on board flight SQ321 from London was forced to make an emergency landing in the Thai capital, the ABC reported on Friday morning.

On Thursday Davis was whisked away from reporters by hospital security when he tried to meet with them in the lobby coffee shop.

One person was killed and at least 30 others were injured when the flight encountered “severe turbulence” en route from London to Singapore.

The plane was urgently diverted to Bangkok, where it landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in a statement that the nation was “saddened and shocked” by what happened.

With The Washington Post

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has warned Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plan to develop nuclear power in Australia will delay the country’s energy transition by years and prove too “expensive and risky”.

Mr Albanese said he was concerned Mr Dutton’s nuclear power plan would take a decade to implement and delay a transition to renewable energy.

“The truth is that it doesn’t stack up, but it would cost an enormous amount, many billions of dollars. In addition to that, it will be more than a decade off before they can be built,” Mr Albanese told 4BC Radio on Friday morning.

The prime minister acknowledged “legitimate” concerns with the prospect of mining giant Glencore injecting carbon dioxide into the Great Artesian Basin.

“There are legitimate concerns about that, there are legal processes going through there with environmental assessment. I think that we need to be very cautious about proposals like that need to get proper consideration,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says a federal election will most likely be called next year, and lamented the relatively short terms of government compared to the set, four-year terms of the states.

Mr Albanese is expected to deliver a speech in Sydney on Friday to mark his second anniversary since being elected prime minister. He indicated to a Brisbane radio station voters wouldn’t be going to a 2024 election.

“Next year, every three years, which isn’t long enough, really but everyone else has four years,” Mr Albanese told Nova Brisbane radio on Friday morning when asked if the federal election would be called this year.

The prime minister said he was confident the 2032 Brisbane Olympics would be a “huge success” despite current cynicism in the state over the capacity of the city’s infrastructure to support the event.

Several Australians are among more than 100 people injured after a Singapore Airlines flight hit severe turbulence over the Andaman Sea.

Twenty people remained in intensive care and a 73-year-old British man died after the Boeing 777, which was flying from London to Singapore on Tuesday, ran into bad turbulence, which hurled items and passengers and crew members around the cabin.

Australian Keith Davis told ABC News he had been left in “limbo” after the incident, with his wife now in intensive care in a Singaporean hospital.

Several of the more seriously injured people who were on the flight need spinal surgery, a Bangkok hospital said on Thursday.

Passengers have described the “sheer terror” of the aircraft shuddering, loose items flying and injured people lying paralysed on the floor of the plane.

With AP

Good morning and welcome to The Australian Financial Review’s Need to Know blog. Some of our top stories today include:

• Anthony Albanese is expected to use his second anniversary in office to urge voters to stick with Labor for another term, rather than vote for the Coalition and return to the era of conflict fatigue.
• The Queensland government is preparing to sign off on a first-year pay rise of more than 13 per cent for thousands of workers at its state energy providers, raising concerns the huge cost increase could lead to higher power prices.
• Taiwan scrambled jets and placed missile, naval and land units on alert after China sent warships to surround the self-ruled island, ratcheting up tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
• The struggling renewables rollout has forced NSW to extend the life of the country’s biggest coal-fired power station and raised questions about whether it will be needed to keep the lights on into the 2030s.