A crazed man sent a flight into chaos after he tried to set a blanket on fire, stripped off and threatened to kill other passengers during a row with his wife.
The unnamed 53-year-old German was pulled off the Lufthansa flight after his wife told a member of staff she felt "threatened" by her husband and asked for them to intervene. Just a few hours into the 10-hour 45-minute journey, the plane was forced to land in India despite being bound for Thailand. In response to his wife asking for help, he reportedly started throwing food, tried to burn a blanket with a lighter, smashed his phone and got undressed. Witnesses told Bild newspaper that he shouted: "I'll kill you all!" and ignored instructions from the cabin crew.
As the situation did not appear to be calming down, the pilots told Indian air traffic control about a "situation with an unruly passenger" and were then permitted to land at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in the Indian capital, where he was arrested. The passengers told Bild that all of the plane monitors were shut off "so that the man would not know that we were landing in New Delhi rather than Bangkok." The passenger said when they landed six soldiers came on board and escorted the man out of the plane.
A Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official said that Lufthansa is coordinating with the German Embassy regarding the passenger. Lufthansa, in a statement, said the flight was diverted to Delhi due to an unruly passenger on board. A statement read: "On Wednesday, November 27, flight LH772 from Munich to Bangkok was diverted to Delhi due to an unruly passenger on board. The person in question was handed over to authorities. The flight to Bangkok is expected to continue subsequently with minor delays. Safety and security on board for our passengers and crew is our top priority."
In June, an unruly passenger broke free of his restraints onboard a Trans-Atlantic flight forcing the captain to divert the flight to an island off mainland Canada. Other travellers stepped in to physically restrain the rogue passenger as the captain bought the Delta flight meant for Detroit, US, safely down. Due to the wild scenes six hours into the flight, the captain took an emergency diversion to Stephenville Dymond International Airport on the Canadian island of Newfoundland. The passenger was removed from the flight by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and they took off for Detroit 90 minutes later.