A 24-year-old man has died on board an Aer Lingus flight bound for Dublin after reportedly biting another passenger.

According to Irish police, the plane was forced to divert to Cork Airport after the man became agitated around an hour into the two-hour journey from Lisbon, Portugal.

The man then became unwell and fell unconscious after being restrained, RTE reports.

The captain declared a “medical emergency” and the plane landed at around 5:40pm on Sunday afternoon.

It is unclear how the man died but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Woman escorted off aeroplane

A woman, who is believed to have been accompanying the dead man, was arrested at the scene and is being held at Togher police station in Cork.

Around 170 passengers and crew were safely evacuated from the airplane and have been interviewed by police.

They returned to Dublin by bus.

The other man injured in the incident has been taken to hospital.