(CNN) An Alaska Airlines flight from San Francisco to Philadelphia was forced to divert, all thanks to a belligerent passenger who tried twice to light up inside the cabin.

Passengers boarding Alaska Airlines' red-eye flight 1138 in San Francisco were in for quite a surprise. Over halfway through the flight, they had to divert to Chicago.

One of their fellow passengers tried to break one of the cardinal rules of modern air travel: do not smoke on airplanes. Then the passenger refused to comply with flight crew instructions by trying to light up a cigarette -- again.

About an hour before they were supposed to land in Philadelphia, pilots were forced to divert to O'Hare International Airport.

"Due to a disruptive passenger onboard and out of an abundance of caution, the flight was diverted to Chicago and landed at 4:22 a.m. local time," Alaska Airlines told CNN.

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