Emma Rose Power and Conor Buckley, both 27, from Tramore, Co Waterford, had been traveling in Thailand for more than two weeks.
The bucket list holiday had taken them from Bangkok to Phuket and the Phi Phi Islands and the pair boarded the Qatar Airways flight to Ireland for their final leg home.
However, just an hour and a half after takeoff, the flight encountered severe turbulence, resulting in eight people being hospitalized.
Emma Rose Power and Conor Buckley from Tramore, County Waterford
“I had actually been asleep from the moment we boarded the plane – I had just woken up and the flight attendant was servicing the rows at the front,” Ms Power said.
“Out of nowhere the plane fell and the food and the flight attendant went into the air. People didn't scream, but it was a bit of a 'woah' because I think it took me a while to realize it was happening. When I think back, it was a bit in slow motion. I remember grabbing Conor's arm.”
Ms Power also described how she tried to prevent the drinks from falling onto the trolley, even though many had already done so. When the turbulence passed, the crew told passengers to fasten their seat belts.
“When everything came down again, including the flight attendant, she just shouted 'seat belts on' and then the seat belt sign came back on because it hadn't been on,” Ms Power said. “The flight attendants ran to the top of the plane to get clearly into a seat with a belt.”
While Ms Power said she believes the severe turbulence lasted about 10 seconds, she admits it felt much longer when it happened.
“At first when it happened it was like 'it's going to be okay, it's going to be okay' but then I started crying,” Ms Power said.
But the couple said with such a long journey ahead of them, they tried to stay positive and calm.
“We were just trying to comfort each other and reassure each other that it was going to be OK, that we were going to get through this,” Buckley said. “I think that was important because we had to keep that mentality throughout the entire flight.”
Mr Buckley said there were still five and a half hours to go before the flight, which was a worrying and tense time for those on board.
“Anytime there was any turbulence, like any other flight, you would pray to God that this won't be fatal, that you won't fall out of the sky,” he said. said. “It was really worrying, but luckily we landed and there was applause when we landed and I couldn't get off that plane fast enough.”
The couple said they had seen news reports of turbulence experiences on an earlier Singapore Airlines flight from London, which killed one person and injured 100.
At that point, the couple made a mental note to keep their seat belts fastened the entire time. Neither of the two was injured.
The pair said the cabin crew on board had been fantastic throughout the ordeal, but it was clear they too were shocked by what happened.
“They looked quite shocked after it happened. One of them had a sling on her wrist, I saw others with scratches, they were walking around with ice on their face or on their arms,” Ms Power said.
“You could see they were physically shaking afterwards. But I have to say it's fair to them that they continue.”
Although the couple knew what they had experienced was bad, it was only after they landed that the gravity of the situation hit them.
“When it happened, we knew it was serious because there were people injured on the plane,” Power said. “They got us off the plane very quickly, but then the lines of guards, the medics and the wheelchairs were ready for people.”
The couple both said it could be a while before they hop on a plane again, although Buckley hoped a planned trip to Germany at the end of the year would go ahead.
“It was obviously so scary and it was something I've never experienced before. I wouldn't want to be rushing on a long flight,” Mr Buckley said.
In a statement, the airline said the incident is now the subject of an internal investigation.