Woman claimed she 'was part of the mafia', said a passenger

She allegedly became upset after cabin crew put her pet in a lavatory

Two fighter jets were scrambled to escort a passenger jet that was forced to make an emergency landing after a woman on board allegedly became unruly over her cat.

Passengers on board the Condor Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Frankfurt claimed the woman brought her cat onto the plane and became enraged when her pet was put in a lavatory by cabin crew.

She allegedly punched a female flight attendant in the face and made threats to ‘bring the plane down’ as the mid-air drama unfolded shortly after take-off.

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A flight from Las Vegas to Frankfurt made an emergency landing at Denver International Airport (file photo)

Passengers said the cat was in the woman’s purse when she boarded the Boeing 767 and she did not have a proper carrier for it.

Cabin crew decided to place the animal in a bathroom, sparking a confrontation that allegedly turned violent and prompted the emergency landing at Denver International Airport on Friday night.

Video courtesy of KCNC

Passenger Dashenka Giraldo told ABC News: ‘She said that she was part of the mafia and that the mafia follows her around the world and that she was able to bring the plane down if that needed to be the case if she couldn’t see her cat.’

When the woman made the threats, the plane’s pilot alerted authorities and two F-16 fighter jets were sent into the air from Buckley Air Force Base, in Colorado, as a precaution.

Two F-16 fighter jets from Buckley Air Force Base escorted the plane as a precaution (file photo)

The plane landed safely and the woman was removed and questioned by authorities.

The FBI said the woman was not arrested or taken into custody, and that the incident was a 'misunderstanding'.

Carsten Stepanowicz, a spokesman for the leisure airline in Germany, said the pilot requested help because of an unruly passenger on board.

‘It was not possible to go on with the flight, so the pilot decided to land in Denver,’ he said.

Denver airport spokesman Heath Montgomery said the flight was originally scheduled to resume on Friday, but it was delayed for the night and passengers were put up in hotels.