A passenger with a bad case of flatulence caused a mid-air brawl, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing, according to media reports.
Transavia Airlines Flight HV6902 from Dubai to Amsterdam made an unscheduled landing in Vienna after some passengers broke into a fight at 38,000 feet, European media reported.
The punch-up erupted over a passenger who allegedly kept breaking wind.
Apparently, the passenger released some excess gas on board the seven-hour-10-minute flight from Dubai International to Schiphol, in Amsterdam, last weekend.
The man's flatulence had annoyed two Dutchmen sitting next to him, it was reported.
As the low-cost airline's crew were unable to do anything about it, and despite the pilot's warning, a fight between the men broke out.
Transavia is a French low-cost airline owned by Air France and Transavia Airlines, based at Paris-Orly Airport. It operates four weekly flights between Dubai and Amsterdam.
'Rampage'
The scuffle prompted the pilot to report about "passengers on the rampage", and decided to land the aircraft in Vienna, more than 1,150km away from its final destination, in order to deal with the situation.
Upon making the unscheduled landing, Austrian police came on board with a sniffer dog and removed two sisters and the two men.
In another twist, the women are now taking the budget airline to court after being removed from the flight, as they claimed they were "humiliated" and had nothing to do with the fight.
Nora Lacchab, 25, a law student from Rotterdam, and her unnamed sister, are now seeking to take legal action.
The two women are Dutch citizens of Moroccan descent were flying back to Amsterdam after a week-long holiday in Dubai.
Nora was quoted as saying: "We had nothing to do with the whole disturbance. We distance ourselves from that.
"We had no idea who these boys were, we just had the bad luck to be in the same row and we didn’t do anything. All I will say is that the crew were really provocative and stirred things up."
The airline stated the two girls were also involved in the fight. All four passengers were later released as they had not broken any Austrian laws.
But Transavia had slapped a lifetime ban on them, the reports said. Meanwhile, the airline is also considering to charge the banned passengers the cost of the unexpected stopover.
In a statement, the airline said: "Our crew must ensure a safe flight. When passengers pose risks, they immediately intervene. Our people are trained for that."
It was not immediately clear if the farting man faced any disciplinary action.
