An Air Asia passenger pours hot water on flight attendant.

 A Thai Air Asia chartered flight FD 9101 with 174 passengers bound for Nanjing, China, was forced to return to Don Mueang airport in Thailand after a Chinese female passenger threw scalding hot water on a flight attendant.

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The drama started when the couple boarded the plane and found that they were seated separately as seats had been assigned in alphabetical order. The situation was rectified but the couple refused to calm down continuing to argue.

Later in the night, things truly heated up over a cup of boiling water, the woman bought instant noodles on the flight and asked for boiling water. When the attendant brought the water, the woman threw it in her face. The woman's male companion then stood up in the cabin and threatened to blow up the plane while his girlfriend told other passengers that she wanted to commit suicide.

Chaos ensued and passengers used dinner cutlery before the couple finally calmed down once other passengers became involved.

The chain of events worried the pilots enough that they turned around and made an emergency landing to Bangkok’s airport, where the troublemakers were promptly arrested.

The flight attendant was given first aid on board by her colleagues to deal with the burns and was taken to hospital.

Chinese authorities issued a statement on Saturday night saying the passengers have been put on a travel blacklist in their home province after they “severely tarnished the image of the Chinese people.”