Jordan says brawl behind Qatar flight scare

AMMAN, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Jordan said on Thursday a fight between a passenger and a flight attendant on a Qatar Airways flight that flew from Jordan led to a hijack scare that forced the plane to return to the airport.

Government spokesperson Nasser Joudeh told Reuters the incident was sparked by a tussle between an Eritrean passenger and the attendant and was not security related.

Earlier reports by the Qatar-based Al Jazeera television said the incident could have been a hijacking.

"This is not a security related incident. There is no hijack attempt and the man was not armed," Joudeh said.

Passengers and stewards on a Qatar Airways plane heading to Qatar from Jordan overpowered an Eritrean passenger who tried to force his way into the cockpit, an airline spokeswoman said.

She told Al Jazeera television that the man, 21, was carrying a box containing an unknown substance, prompting the captain to return to Jordan immediately after the incident.

"The captain declared an emergency onboard and landed in Amman, where the passenger was handed over to Jordanian security. Now the plane is about to take off for Doha with the remaining passengers," she said, adding no passengers were harmed.