A passenger on board Malaysian Airlines Berhad (MAB) Flight MH01 en route from London to Kuala Lumpur that experienced severe air turbulence today said she thought she was going die.

The Singaporean, in her 50s, who only wanted to be known as Mary, said she felt the plane, an Airbus 380, going into a dive and then shooting upwards. She described the incident as most terrifying.

She said she had planned to spend a few days in Kuala Lumpur before heading back to Singapore and never expected to end up in a hospital.

Mary was not injured but was accompanying a Malaysian friend who suffered a hip injury in the incident.

“The turbulence lasted about five three minutes when we were about three hours before we were to land at KL International Airport (KLIA).

“I was sitting on the upper deck. When the plane experienced the turbulence, the cabin crew were just about to serve meals to the passengers. I saw the meal packages flying off the food cart,” said Mary.

She added that she also saw a stewardess knock her head before falling and hurting her knees.

“However, on the upper deck there weren’t any passengers screaming. Only after that I heard an announcement by the pilot asking passengers to put on their seat belts,” added Mary.

As at 10.30pm last night, five MH01 passengers who were injured were brought to the Putrajaya Hospital for treatment.

Malaysia Airlines in a statement said a small number of affected passengers and crew were given medical assistance when the aircraft with 378 passengers and crew on board landed on time at KLIA at 6pm yesterday.

The airline said it also extended assistance to all passengers and apologised for any inconvenience caused by this weather event which was entirely beyond its control.

- Bernama