In this image taken from MSNBC video, shows authorities responding to a plane disturbance on United Flight 663 at the Denver International Airport. The FBI is probing whether a man tried to ignite his shoes on a DC to Denver flight Wednesday, according to law enforcement officials, who say the man is a Qatari diplomat.

WASHINGTON: US air marshals subdued a Qatari diplomat on a flight to Denver Wednesday in a bomb scare triggered after he reportedly smoked a cigarette and joked he was trying to light his shoes, officials said.

There were no reports of an explosion on the plane, which landed safely at Denver International Airport from Washington’s Reagan National Airport following the disturbance.

Law enforcement authorities initially notified key lawmakers that US air marshals subdued the Qatari national, who had apparently sought to “ignite their (his) shoe” on the flight, a congressional aide told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“Air marshals jumped in, and the cockpit wasn’t breached,” the official said.

The FBI was investigating whether the man, identified by ABC News as Qatari diplomat Mohammed Al-Modadi, tried to ignite something aboard the plane.

Al-Modadi, 27, has full diplomatic immunity as the third secretary and
vice-consul of the Qatari embassy in Washington.

But NBC News reported the man had simply said he was putting out a cigarette he had smoked in the restroom on the sole of his shoe. Smoking is strictly prohibited on all US passenger flights.

ABC News said the diplomat told marshals “I’m lighting my shoes on fire.”

However, a US security official acknowledged “it may have been a massive misunderstanding,” telling ABC that Al-Modadi may have been making a “sarcastic” comment when he was confronted by two air marshals.

NBC News said a search of the man found no explosives and that bomb-sniffing dogs found no traces of explosives aboard the aircraft.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said the passenger was placed in custody, adding it was “monitoring” the incident.

Federal officials told NBC the incident occurred half an hour before United Airlines flight 663 was due to make a scheduled stop in Denver, when a flight attendant smelled smoke as a passenger came out of a restroom, and alerted an air marshal.

The marshal confronted the man, and then wrestled him to the ground after he made the statement about lighting his shoes, NBC said.

After the pilot declared an emergency, two F-16 fighter jets were rushed to intercept the aircraft around 6:45 pm under the authority of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

“Shortly before landing in Denver, a passenger possibly caused a disturbance on the plane. Upon intercepting the aircraft, the F-16s escorted the aircraft until it landed safely without incident at approximately 6:50 pm where the plane was met by local law enforcement,” NORAD said.

The plane was carrying 157 passengers and six crew members on a flight originally scheduled to ultimately arrive in Las Vegas after a scheduled stop in Denver.

TSA said it had received “initial reports that a federal air marshal responded to a passenger possibly causing a disturbance on board this aircraft.”

The security agency said “all steps are being taken to ensure the safety of the traveling public.”

The incident came a week after the United States unveiled new security measures subjecting all US-bound plane passengers to screening methods that use real-time intelligence to target potential threats, replacing the mandatory screening of passengers from a blacklist of 14 mainly Muslim countries.

The measures were announced in the wake of a Nigerian man’s failed attempt to detonate explosives concealed in his underwear on a Detroit-bound flight from Amsterdam on Christmas Day.