A fight between a man and his wife midair compelled a Munich-Bangkok  bound Lufthansa flight (LH772), which took off from Munich, to make an unscheduled landing at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport on Wednesday morning. Subsequently, the couple was de-boarded.

According to sources, a German man and his Thai wife started fighting midair during the flight from Munich to Bangkok. Lufthansa first requested permission to land in Pakistan. When this was denied, the airline made an emergency stop in Delhi because of the unruly passengers. This is one of the very rare conditions where an international flight had to be diverted not owing to some medical emergency or safety purpose but for a fight between a man and his wife that went too far.

Sources said  the wife had first complained about her husband’s behaviour to the pilot, saying she was being “threatened” by him and sought intervention.

Sources said the 53-year German passenger allegedly “threw food, tried to burn a blanket using a lighter, shouted at his wife and did not follow the instructions issued by the crew” and hence the pilot diverted the flight. The man was later deboarded by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel at IGIA.

The wife was travelling on a different PNR ticket and she desired to continue her journey to Bangkok, they said. The airline, as per the sources, is also coordinating with the German Embassy. “The man of German nationality was offloaded at Delhi and handed over to airport security. He has since apologised,” they added.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is now mulling whether to consider the apology and allow the man to return to Germany, or hand him over to law enforcement agencies in India.

“The reason for the fight between husband and wife is not known, but the flight had to be diverted due to the fight between husband and wife,” sources said.

Lufthansa, in a statement, said the flight was diverted to Delhi due to an unruly passenger on board.

A similar incident had taken place on October 6 aboard an Air India flight. A man was arrested for allegedly using abusive language and passing lewd comments towards the crew members, the Delhi Police had confirmed.

A crew member working in the economy class cabin said that the accused started passing lewd comments and abusing others.