An investigation is under way into a security breach at Taizhou Luqiao Airport after a man tried to set fire to a seat on a Shenzhen Airlines flight from the city in east China's Zhejiang Province to Guangzhou near Hong Kong.
Photographs posted online showed a partially charred seat and a blackened emergency exit door.
The pilot issued a mayday call and the plane was guided into Guangzhou's airport at around 1am yesterday. Slides were deployed and 95 passengers and nine crew members evacuated.
A statement from Shenzhen Airlines confirmed the incident but offered no additional details.
The man is in custody.
China bans the carrying of cigarette lighters and flammable substances, including spirits, aboard all flights.
A spokesman for Taizhou Luqiao Airport said: "It was just an accident which had never ever happened before.
"The airport hasn't been affected. And we are still investigating," he said.
Civil aviation police said passengers and crew thwarted the attempted arson attack on the flight that had more than 100 people on board. Two passengers suffered slight injuries.
Passenger Huang Caihong told the Qianjiang Evening News: "Four of us narrowly escaped death." The 46-year-old was with her 10-year-old daughter, her sister and her sister's 4-year-old granddaughter.
Huang said the suspect was a man aged 40 to 50. He had a shoulder bag and was carrying newspapers when he passed her on the way to the first-class section.
Soon after, she heard passengers shouting "Fire!" Then, she saw black smoke.
"He lit the newspapers but the fire was put off by cabin crew," Huang said. Brandishing a knife, he then walked back to the economy section, warning everyone not to move, she said, but two male stewards forced him to stop and some passengers blocked his way with luggage.
The man then went back to first class and tried to set another fire, she said.
"The cabin was engulfed with choking smoke," Huang said. "Fortunately, the plane soon landed. If we had stayed in cabin for another five to six minutes, we could all have died."
The man jumped out of an open door, she said, while others left via the evacuation slide.
"We weren't allowed to go home. Instead, police who were waiting for us in the airport questioned every one of us. I returned home about 7am," she said.
According to one online report, the suspect hit his head on the ground when he jumped from the plane and was receiving medical treatment.
