Pandemonium broke out on a Delhi-Mumbai Indigo plane after an elderly passenger reportedly took ill while inside the aircraft's toilet and couldn't open the door for a long time. It turned into paranoia when the 70-year-old managed to come out, with the crew's help, struggling to manage his dhoti.

A flurry of posts were fired into Twitter space, alleging that a senior citizen had locked himself inside the toilet, taken off his clothes and was demanding that the plane be taken back to the parking bay.

Airline officials refuted the claims. They said the septuagenarian was deplaned at Delhi airport for better medical care, which resulted in the flight getting delayed by an hour on Friday evening.

"I'm on Indigo 129 Del-Bom where a passenger has just locked himself in the loo, taken off his clothes & demanded we return to bay. So we have," read a tweet by Mahesh Murthy, one of the passengers on board the plane.

Murthy tweeted again about an hour later: "Reluctant flyer is off the plane, doors are closed, everyone inside is now clothed and relieved. Taxiing to take off."

Playing down the incident, Indigo officials said the elderly flyer went to the loo when the plane was on ground. He felt uneasy inside the toilet and was finding it difficult to open the door. He could come out with the help of the crew members. However, other passengers thought something was suspicious when they saw him struggling to wrap his dhoti.

An airline spokesperson said, "A 70-year-old passenger who was to fly with us on 6E 129 (Delhi-Mumbai) flight was off-loaded due to medical emergency. Keeping in mind his safety, Indigo staff immediately administered to all his needs to assist him and has requested him to undergo medical check up at the Delhi airport".