Beijing (CNN) -- Earlier this month, "nut rage" prompted the pilot of a Korean Air flight on the tarmac of New York's JFK airport to turn back to the gate.
Now, "hot watergate" has
forced a China-bound Thai AirAsia flight to return to Bangkok, angering
not just the passengers on board but also the Chinese government and
public.
Shortly after flight
FD9101 took off last Thursday evening from Bangkok for the eastern
Chinese city of Nanjing, a male passenger asked a flight attendant for
boiling water for his girlfriend's instant noodles, witnesses told
China's state media
.
When told they had to
wait for the plane to reach cruising altitude, the young man reportedly
dumped food on the aisle, stomped on it and yelled at other passengers
who tried to calm him down.
He was allegedly still
fuming as a flight attendant of the budget airline brought a cup of hot
water and charged him 60 Thai baht ($2) for it.
Another argument ensued when he demanded Chinese currency for change as well as an official receipt, state media reported
As the quarrel dragged
on, the man's girlfriend threw hot water on the back of a flight
attendant, witnesses said. When the purser demanded the woman apologize,
the boyfriend exploded.
In a cell phone video
taken by a fellow passenger and posted online, a man in a gray T-shirt
and jeans can be heard shouting in Mandarin: "You don't think I have
money? ...You caused all the problems and I'm going to blow up the
plane!"
When the couple realized
the flight was being turned back, the woman reportedly grew hysterical,
hitting windows and threatening to jump off the plane, according to
state media.
The plane -- carrying 174 passengers and six crew members -- hadn't even left Thai airspace before it turned around.
"The captain of the
flight decided to return the plane to Don Mueang Airport [Bangkok's
secondary airport] deeming her actions as endangering to other
passengers and impeding in-flight service," the airline said in a
statement.
Thai authorities
reportedly questioned the couple -- along with two of their friends who
were also involved in the incident -- and ordered them to pay the flight
attendant 50,000 baht ($1,500).
The woman was also fined 200 baht ($6) and the other three passengers 100 baht ($3) each for disturbing public order.
As news of "hot
watergate" spread online, many Chinese Internet users lamented that the
airline didn't press criminal charges, calling the fines imposed by Thai
officials a slap on the wrist for such "shameful" behavior.
Air rage on the rise in China
Air rage is a common sight in delay-prone China.
In recent years, state
media has reported numerous dramatic incidents involving irate
passengers, ranging from blocking moving aircraft on an active runway to
fistfights with airport employees.
With the exponential growth of outbound tourism, Chinese fliers now seem to be exporting their rage overseas.
In February 2012, a
Chinese couple was kicked off their United flight from Guam to Shanghai,
after they repeatedly yelled at a flight attendant and told her to
"shut up" when she tried to move their luggage in the overhead bin to
accommodate other passengers.
In September that year, a
Swiss flight bound for Beijing was forced to return to Zurich when a
fight broke out between two Chinese men over a reclined seat.
In February this year, a
fight erupted between two groups of Chinese passengers before their
flight could take off from the Thai resort island of Phuket, resulting
in 29 people being taken off the plane.
Then, in April, a Thai Airways red-eye from Bangkok to Beijing turned bloody when a brawl involving three Chinese men broke out.
During an official visit
to the Maldives in September, President Xi Jinping personally asked
Chinese tourists to behave themselves while traveling abroad.
Last year the government released a lengthy list of do's and don'ts aimed at turning Chinese travelers into "civilized tourists."
After the latest
incident, the National Tourism Administration said in a statement that
actions of the four passengers had "severely damaged the overall image
of Chinese people" and demanded local authorities to review the case.
All the warnings and cajoling seem to have fallen on deaf ears, though.
When they arrived in
Nanjing on the same Thai AirAsia flight the following day, the four
passengers refused to disembark, state media quoted a witness as saying.
They demanded a written
statement from the airline that would exonerate them from having caused
the incident Thursday -- delaying the flight going back to Bangkok.