Lufthansa passenger restrained after threatening to open plane's door

Belgrade - A passenger on board a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Belgrade threatened to open one of the aircraft's doors as it soared 11 000m over Austria on Sunday.

Crew members and passengers, including members of a Serbian handball team, were able to restrain the man for the rest of the flight in the business class cabin, Serbian media reported.

With the passenger subdued, the pilot continued the flight as usual and the plane landed on time in the Serbian capital.

"My impression was that the man was mentally unstable," Milan Djukic, the president of the Vojvodina handball team, told the local broadcaster in the city of Novi Sad.

Many passengers were likely unaware of the disturbance happening at the front of the plane, he said.

Serbian media identified the man as a Jordanian travelling with a US passport. He was handed over to police at the airport in Belgrade.

A Lufthansa spokesperson confirmed the incident, saying the passengers were never in any danger and noted that it is impossible to open a plane's door while in flight.