A “no smoking” and “fasten seatbelt” sign on a commercial aircraft.
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An Israeli passenger smoked a cigarette in the bathroom of an El Al plane on Friday, per The Times of Israel.
He tried to dispose of the cigarette in a trash can but it set tissue paper aflame, causing a fire.
The passenger will face legal action when he returns from Thailand to Israel, El Al said.
An Israeli passenger caused a fire on an El Al flight from Tel Aviv to Bangkok on Friday after smoking a cigarette in the plane’s bathroom and attempting to dispose of it in a trash can, according to the airline, per the Times of Israel.
The passenger’s cigarette butt set toilet paper and tissues inside the trash can aflame, The Times of Israel reported.
Flight attendants and the plane’s captains used extinguishers to put the fire out, El Al said, per the newspaper. It caused no damage, the airline added.
“The flight continued as scheduled and landed safely at Bangkok Airport,” El Al said, per The Times of Israel.
El Al added that the passenger would face legal action once he returned from Thailand to Israel, according to the newspaper.
The newspaper reported that the airline did not involve Thai local police in the matter as the fire was put out quickly and did not cause any damage to the plane.
Inflight smoking is prohibited by almost all airlines and most governments across the world.
Last month, the Times of Israel reported that a passenger on a delayed Wizz Air flight from Tel Aviv to Bucharest, Romania, declared that he wanted to smoke a cigarette.
The pilot called for the police, who approached the passenger, the newspaper said. “I want to smoke a cigarette,” the passenger said, per The Times of Israel. “I’ve been here for four hours, I’m going to smoke a cigarette! I smoke weed! I’m sick, I’m allowed to smoke weed, I have a permit.”
Police did not detain or remove anyone from the plane, the newspaper reported.