The SQ321 flight took off from Heathrow on Monday at 22.38 local time with 211 passengers and 18 crew members. The airline stated that the aircraft experienced turbulence in the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar, at an altitude of 37,000 feet. Data from Flight Radar 24, a website that gathers public information about flights, shows that approximately 10 hours later, the aircraft descended from 37,000 feet to around 31,000 feet in just a few minutes.

Not yet known for certain what caused the horrific incident. When the plane was traveling across Myanmar, satellite data showed a strong storm beginning to form and bubble up to higher places, indicating that the atmosphere in that region became unstable. The plane was also moving towards another storm developing along the coast of Myanmar. However, recent research indicates that turbulence increased and climate change is the cause, particularly the increase in carbon dioxide emissions affecting air currents.

More than two decades ago, while working as a flight attendant, she experienced turbulence during a flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires that was so severe that she was thrown upwards when the plane suddenly descended about 4,000 feet. Her back and shoulders hit the ceiling of the cabin before she was thrown back down. "I was just thrown up and down," she said, adding that some passengers were also injured. She said she has not experienced anything like that since then.