Beijing: A Chinese jet was forced to turn around shortly after take-off when a male passenger excited about his first-ever flight sparked a terror scare, the airline operating the flight said today.

The incident aboard a Shenzhen Airlines plane from the southern boomtown of Shenzhen to Chengdu in the southwest highlighted the heightened security alert in China ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

As the plane taxied on the runway, the 41-year-old man, who was not identified, refused to stop calling his friends on his mobile phone to express his excitement about the flight, the airline said in a statement.

"The airline attendants repeatedly told him to stop, and then he said Tomorrow you will see the news , which alerted the airline attendants," the company said.

The crew then decided to turn back to Shenzhen shortly after take-off. The passenger, who works at a construction site in the city near the border with Hong Kong, was interrogated by police and released with a warning, the airline said, adding that he travelled to Chengdu on a later flight.

Security has been stepped up across China ahead of the Olympic Games, especially in airports, gas and oil facilities, hotels and public gathering places.

The move comes after the government made public several alleged terror plots, amid skepticism over whether Beijing is inflating a terror threat to justify tighter control on dissent ahead of the Games in August.

Last week, China said it had cracked a terrorist group plotting to kidnap foreigners during the Beijing Olympics and another that planned to carry out attacks with toxic materials.
Source : PTI