“He was a legend,” assured TelegraphAnna Proctor, daughter of Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, who died of a heart attack during a Singapore Airlines flight.
On Tuesday, “extreme and sudden turbulence” at 11,000 meters above Burma caused the emergency landing of a plane linking London to Singapore in Bangkok. A passenger, Geoff Kitchen, died and dozens of people on board were injured, twenty of whom were still in intensive care in hospitals in the Thai capital this Wednesday.
“A wonderful man”
“We are completely devastated,” added Anna, the victim’s daughter. She describes her father as “a wonderful man, extremely kind, loving and gentle.” Geoff Kitchen was a father of two and grandfather of two. With his wife Linda, to whom he had been married for more than 50 years and who was also on board the flight, they were preparing to experience “the vacation of their lives” for “six weeks”, their friends told the British media . According to them, the latter was transferred to a Thai hospital for treatment.
“They were very adventurous and had been planning their vacation for a long time. They spent last weekend with their grandchildren because they wouldn’t see them for a while,” he told the Daily Mail Steve Dimond, 73, a close friend and neighbor. According to the latter, Geoff Kitchen had suffered from heart problems in recent years but remained active.
A locally engaged person
For more than 30 years, the couple had lived in Thornbury, near Bristol, in the south of England. Geoff Kitchen was very involved locally. He also ran in the municipal elections as an independent candidate, committing to supporting the arts, the environment and young people, reports the Telegraph. With Linda, his wife, they were actively involved in amateur theater in the region.
On Facebook, the Thornbury Musical Theater Group, his musical theater company, paid tribute to the septuagenarian. “Geoff has always been a gentleman of impeccable honesty and integrity and has always done the right thing for the group,” it is written. His commitment was unquestionable and he served the group and the local Thornbury community for over 35 years, holding various roles within the group including Chairman, Treasurer and most recently Secretary. »
Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong offered his condolences to the deceased’s family and said he was “truly sorry for the traumatic experience” faced by those on board. An investigation has been opened to find out the exact circumstances of this accident.