It was a swelteringly(酷热地) hot afternoon in south-west Myanmar on 21 May 2024. Tropical thunderstorms, showers and highs of 36C were forecast for the area around the Irrawaddy Basin. High above, monsoonal heat and humidity were building into a vast convective(对流的) column of water vapour, a towering cumulonimbus(积雨云) cloud soaring up to 35,000ft (more than 10,500 metres) into the air. From the ground, it would have looked like something from a children’s picture book – a soft, fluffy white mass. But for Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 passing just above, it was anything but(绝不是) benign(温和的；良性的).
2024年5月21日，缅甸西南部一个酷热难耐的下午。天气预报显示，伊洛瓦底江流域周边将有热带雷暴、阵雨，最高气温达36摄氏度。高空之上，季风带来的热量和湿气正积聚成巨大的对流性水汽柱，一座高耸的积雨云直冲35,000英尺（逾10,500米）高空。从地面望去，它就像儿童绘本里的画面——一团柔软蓬松的白色云朵。但对于正从它上方飞越的新加坡航空SQ321航班而言，这团云可绝非善类。
In the cabin of the Boeing 777, passengers were being woken up for breakfast with three hours to go on the journey from London to Singapore. For the 210 travellers on board, the past 10 hours had been uneventful(平淡无事的). The seatbelt signs were off. Some were milling around, others were using the toilets, and cabin staff were preparing trolleys for service. At 2.19pm and 23 seconds local time, moderate turbulence shook the plane for 17 seconds and the seatbelt sign was switched on. Then, as one passenger described it, it was “like a grenade(手榴弹) had gone off”. In just 4.6 seconds, any passenger not strapped in hit the roof with 1.5 times the force of gravity and was thrown back on the floor in an instant.(短短4.6秒内，任何没有系安全带的乘客都以1.5倍重力加速度撞向天花板，随即又被摔回地板。)
在波音777的客舱里，乘客们正被叫醒吃早餐，此时从伦敦飞往新加坡的旅程还剩三个小时。对于机上210名旅客来说，过去的10个小时平淡无事。安全带指示灯是熄灭的。有人在过道里走动，有人在使用洗手间，乘务员正在准备餐车。当地时间下午2点19分23秒，中度湍流震动了飞机17秒，安全带指示灯亮起。然后，正如一位乘客所描述的那样，“就像一颗手榴弹爆炸了”。短短4.6秒内，任何没有系安全带的乘客都以1.5倍重力加速度撞向天花板，随即又被摔回地板。
Passengers reported hearing people screaming in agony, blood streaming down faces, with overhead panels broken by the force of bodies hitting them.(乘客们回忆说，他们听到人们在痛苦地尖叫，鲜血从脸上流下，头顶的行李面板被人体撞击的力量砸坏。) One person was left dead and 79 were seriously injured. The turbulence had lasted just over 21 seconds.
乘客们回忆说，他们听到人们在痛苦地尖叫，鲜血从脸上流下，头顶的行李面板被人体撞击的力量砸坏。一人死亡，79人重伤。湍流仅仅持续了21秒多一点。
Flying over the top of a cyclone
飞越气旋之上
‘The fuel of thunderstorms’
“雷暴的燃料”
‘The ones you’re going to drive into the ceiling’
“那些会被你撞上天花板的人”