The short quick answer is that Lot's wife looked back at Sodom, which she was told not to do, and became a pillar of salt. The follow-up question is, why would looking back turn her into a pillar of salt?
We need to start with the attitude of Lot, and likely his wife, in this crisis. Far from being grateful for God's mercy in coming to rescue him Lot is hesitant to leave at the angel's insistence. The angels literally have to drag him and his family out of Sodom. They were about to lose everything they had worked for and the fact of that loss seemed to pull Lot and his wife back to Sodom despite the impending judgment. Once they were out of the city Lot complained about where the angels were sending them making the angels agree to Lot's request. So, this is really the setting in which Lot's wife looks back.
Lot's wife look behind her was more than a glance. For years I thought that all she did was do a quick glance over her shoulder that caused her to turn into a pillar of salt on the spot. But that is not what happened. One commentary said that the text implies that she went behind her husband and looked backwards. She was so conflicted about leaving Sodom and all her earthly belongings that she takes a deliberate action to go behind her husband and turn around to look. The implication is that this hesitation caused her to get caught in the firestorm of falling burning material and is killed where she stood. Her body eventually becomes encrusted with salt which makes her body into a pillar of salt.
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