Plane Diverted After Passenger Smears Bathrooms With Excrement

A plane carrying more than 200 passengers from Chicago to Hong Kong was diverted after two of the aircraft's toilets were vandalised with faeces, officials said.

"We received a report of a passenger who had messed up the bathrooms with his own feces," Anchorage Airport Police Lieutenant Joe Gamache told Reuters by telephone.

The man, a 22-year-old Vietnamese passport holder with U.S. residency, was escorted off the plane in handcuffs on Thursday night and met by law enforcement in the terminal, Gamache said.

After being interviewed by authorities through a translator, he was transported to an Anchorage hospital for a mental evaluation.

The man made no threats and did not try to interfere with the flight crew, Gamache said, adding that no charges have been filed.

Police told Anchorage TV station KTUU that he was taken to a hospital for a mental health assessment after being interviewed through a translator.

United Airlines said there were 245 people on board the plane and said it provided hotel accommodations for its customers.