There’s a reason the seatbelt turns on during spots of turbulence when you’re on an airplane — because otherwise you might end up on the ceiling like so much spattered food. A passenger captured just how messy it can get when the air got bumpy on a recent Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore to London, and we half expected John Belushi’s grinning face to show up in the photos. It’s just that chaotic.

ABC News spoke with the photo-snapping passenger, who said his coffee ended up on the ceiling and meals went flying every which way.

He said there was an announcement during breakfast that meal service would temporarily be suspended, and the fasten seatbelt light came on. The captain came on rather urgently, he said, ordering flight attendants to immediately sit down and strap themselves in.

“I remember thinking that his tone was a bit odd,” he said, adding that the resulting turbulence felt “like being in an elevator with a cut cable or free-falling from some amusement park ride.”

A few passengers who weren’t sitting were also tossed around with the food, and sustained minor injuries, the airline said.As soon as things calmed down, flight attendants reportedly moved quickly through the cabin to check on passengers and clean up the mess.

Everything went on as normal for the next 10 hours, when the flight was met at Heathrow by paramedics.

In a statement, the airline said:

“Eleven passengers and one crew member sustained minor injuries when the aircraft experienced a sudden loss of altitude and were attended to by medical personnel on arrival at Heathrow Airport. Seat-belt signs were on at the time and meal services had already been suspended.”

Passengers received a box of chocolates for their troubles as they deplaned. Because sometimes turbulence is just like a box of chocolates — you never know what’s going to spill all over the place. Or something.

Air Turbulence Creates Chaotic Mealtime Mess [ABC News]

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