• An Air China flight headed for Beijing was forced to divert after a man threatened staff with a fountain pen.
  • Images circulating on social media show a man holding a crew member around the neck using the pen as a weapon.
  • No passengers or crew were harmed during the incident.

An Air China flight had to be diverted after a man threatened airline staff with a fountain pen.

Air China flight CA1350 was heading to Beijing from Changsha but had to make an emergency landing in Henan province yesteday. No passengers or crew were harmed during the incident.

Police said the 41-year-old man, identified only as Mr Xu, 41, was taken into custody and had a history of mental illness.

Photos circulating on Chinese social media showed a man holding a cabin crew member around the neck using the pen as a weapon.

The Beijing News said that a passenger described being awoken by a scream coming from the front of the plane and that “nobody knew what was going on”.

The Xiaoxiang Morning Herald quoted a passenger as saying the disturbance occurred in the first or business class cabins but that the curtains separating those sections from economy class were pulled tightly shut.