Beijing police denied reports that the forced return of an Air Canada flight to the city's main airport on August 18 was caused by "sexual assault" against a cabin attendant.

The airport police told China.org.cn today that the return of Flight AC32, from Beijing to Toronto, was, however, caused by a 'dispute" between a passenger and the cabin crew.

The male Chinese passenger in the business cabin was at first "not satisfied" with the in-flight television service and later became ‘agitated“ and had ”physical contact“ with a female flight attendant when she was sending out meals, a police officer with the public security bureau of the Beijing Capital International Airport, who prefers anonymity, said.

The passenger, who is surnamed Ma, did not ”threaten, attack, or sexually assault“ the flight attendant, the officer said.

He said that the attendants later reported the incident to the captain who then decided to return and alerted the Beijing airport. The flight landed in Beijing at around 11 p.m. Tuesday and the case was handed over to the airport police.

The passenger was given a 10-day administrative detention and fined 500 yuan (US$ 78.3), and the flight attendant had ”returned to work," the officer said.

The flight, a Boeing 777, was reported to have resumed after six hours' stay at the Beijing airport.

The police officer said that "disputes" like this were common, but a forced return as a result of such incidents was "rare" at the Beijing airport.

Previous online reports said the flight captain asked for an emergency landing in Japan but was refused. Air Canada so far has not responded to our inquiry about this allegation.