A passenger flight of a private Indian airline made an emergency landing at Mumbai airport Thursday after a passenger turned violent and misbehaved with crew members and other passengers, triggering a security scare mid-air.

The airlines belonged to low-cost Indian private carrier Indigo and was on its way to the southern city of Kochi from Dubai when the incident took place over Mumbai.

In a statement, Indigo said the passenger "suddenly started misbehaving with the crew, jumped on a cart used for food and onboard merchandise and sat on it".

"The crew politely requested the passenger to step down from the cart and he obliged. After stepping down from the cart, the passenger suddenly got violent and started physically abusing the co-passenger," the statement added.

Taking no chances, the aircraft made an emergency landing at Mumbai airport after the flight captain informed the Air Traffic Control and the ground security staff about the situation onboard.

The passenger has been detained by the security staff at Mumbai airport and he is being questioned, a senior police official said.