Icelandic man recovers from neck injury sustained on Singapore Airlines flight, regains confidence in flying

A man from Iceland who broke his neck aboard a Singapore Airlines flight said the sudden drop of the plane was like a blow to his head. He stated he is not afraid of flying and flew to Gothenburg today.

Aron Matthíasson, who suffered the neck injury on the Singapore Airlines flight in May, is on the mend. Swimming at Suðurbæjarlaug in Hafnarfjörður has been beneficial for him.

“It strengthens me physically and mentally. Rather than lying in bed all day, it breaks up the day to go for a walk, go swimming, and stay in the pool,” he said.

He is an engineer at Marel and was on a business trip to New Zealand when the plane suddenly plunged 48 meters.

“It happened so quickly that it didn’t feel like I had gone up into the air, but rather it felt like the plane had hit me.”

After a hospital stay in Bangkok, he flew home and was very afraid during the first of three flights. That changed on the final flight:

“From Europe to Iceland with Icelandair, and then the fear of flying was really over.”

He compares the feeling to a referee being taken out and the game being played according to rules set by the other team.