Israeli passenger who started fire after smoking in plane toilet released without arrest

Passenger sets toilet on fire during El Al flight to Bangkok.

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 reports, the unnamed man threw his cigarette butt into the trash can, igniting the toilet paper inside.

Within seconds, the trash can caught fire and smoke entered the cabin, leading to panic among other passengers.

With the fire alarm sounding, flight attendants and the plane’s captains used extinguishers to put the fire out.

After the incident, the flight continued as normal on its way to Thailand.

“A passenger on a flight to Bangkok was caught smoking in the plane’s bathroom, and there was a fear of a fire breaking out in the cabin. The air crew and the captains took care of the incident immediately and with caution by using the dedicated fire extinguishers,” El Al said in a statement.

“The passenger was warned and the issue was passed on for further examination by our legal department.”

Despite the severity of the incident, the man was not arrested upon arrival in Bangkok, Thailand.

Interestingly, the airline did not even alert police, but instead just forwarded the case to the carrier’s legal department for review.