London: A commercial flight was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Northern Ireland at a cost of up to £350,000 ($715,000) because an unruly passenger was demanding some nuts.

The United Airlines plane, which was en route from Rome to Chicago on Saturday evening, landed in Belfast when the pilot grew alarmed at the passenger's behaviour.

The United Airlines flight was diverted - at a hefty cost. Credit:Graham Tidy

The plane had to dump 50,000 litres of fuel to make the stop, and the passengers had to wait almost 24 hours to take off again because getting under way immediately would have broken the crew's legal flying hours limit. Almost all the passengers had to sleep on the terminal floor.

Jeremiah Mathis Thede, from Berkeley, California, appeared at Coleraine magistrates' court in Northern Ireland on Monday charged with endangering the safety of the aircraft, disruptive behaviour on board and common assault against a stewardess.