Flight attendants were forced to break up a fight mid-flight after two passengers got into a heated exchange.

The EVA Air crew successfully pulled apart two scuffling passengers on board a flight bound for San Francisco from Taipei on May 8. EVA Air said the disagreement started when a passenger attempted to move to another seat to get away from a fellow passenger, who was coughing in his direction.

His attempt to relocate to another seat was unsuccessful when it turned out it was already being used by another passenger, another male. The disagreement descended into a physical argument, leading to three EVA Air crew being forced to pull them apart.

The incident occurred around three hours into the 12-hour BR08 flight.

“The company has always adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards incidents of passenger nuisance,” Taiwan-based EVA Air said in a statement.

“The company will provide appropriate rewards to [the three cabin crew members] later on.”

Following the incident, the flight carried on as normal towards San Francisco.

The two passengers were taken in for questioning upon arrival in San Francisco after the pilot contacted police in-flight.

There have been a number of incidents involving troublesome passengers on planes in recent months, but incidents remain relatively rare.

In March, a United Airlines flight going from London to New York had to suddenly land at Bangor Airport in Maine when an allegedly drunk man became so unruly that the plane had to come to a sudden stop.

A man, who had gotten into an argument with his partner, ended up with his hands and feet cable tied on the floor.

By the time the plane had landed, the intoxicated fellow was carried off the aircraft by border control amidst cheers from the other 150 passengers.

Passenger Bobby Field told BlackCountryLive: “We were in the middle and they were a few rows ahead on the left-hand side. We noticed them when they got on the plane and were having words as the flight was going on.”

“It was about six hours in when the lad started getting a bit rowdy and you could tell he had been drinking. He started grabbing her jacket and throwing stuff about,” Bobby.

Bobby explained that the crew told the man that if he calmed down, they’d be able to land. They only had an hour and a half left of their flight. But the man allegedly kept screaming and acting up, so the pilots decided to make an emergency landing.

They stayed in Maine for about an hour as the plane refueled and the police asked witnesses questions. Then they got to take off again and finish their flight to New York.