All hell broke loose: Passengers on Singapore Airlines flight describe nightmare at 37,000 feet – Boston News, Weather, Sports [Video]

(CNN) — Passengers on a Singapore Airlines flight hit by severe turbulence on Tuesday described a sudden, dramatic drop as “all hell broke loose” on board the Boeing airliner carrying 229 passengers and crew.

Flight SQ321 was cruising at 37,000 feet from London to Singapore when flight tracking data shows the plane rapidly plunged before climbing several hundred feet, then repeated the dip and ascent, for about 90 seconds.

At first, “the flight was perfectly normal,” said passenger Andrew Davies, who was traveling to New Zealand for business. He described the flight as “quite smooth … I don’t remember any turbulence at all.”

Many passengers were having breakfast at the time of the incident.

Then, about nine or 10 hours into the roughly 13-hour flight, he was watching a movie when he saw the seat belt sign light up – so he put his seat belt on. “Thank goodness I did because within moments of doing that, all hell broke loose,” he …