An American Airlines flight had performed an emergency landing on Monday after passengers reported a smell of burnt matches. It turned out that the cause of the smell was a result of a passenger lighting matches during the flight to mask the smell of her flatulence.

The plane was flying from Washington DC to Dallas and the emergency landing was made in Nashville Airport. Airport spokeswoman Lynne Lowrance confirmed that passengers were asked to disembark as the canine team were brought in to check the cabin and to search the luggage. It took about three hours to sort out the situation.

Passengers are allowed to bring four books of safety matched on board but are not allowed to light them. Once the reason for the scare was discovered, the perpetrator of the misdemeanour was not allowed back on the flight and was barred from flying on American Airlines.

“Since there was no malice involved and the incident was accidental, she was not charged with anything,” commented Lowrance. “I’ve had calls from people all over the country about this and I don’t have the answer to this problem.”