A reader, who asked to remain anonymous, writes to SFist about a harrowing (albeit it tiny) blaze aboard a flight, prompting an emergency landing at SFO on Sunday.

A good friend was flying on American Airlines flight 72 on Sunday, August 1 from Honolulu to Chicago with his wife and 1-year-old daughter when a passenger seated directly in front of them lit a napkin with a lighter during the flight, causing smoke in the cabin and commotion.

The lady sitting next to the passenger who lit the fire threw down her DVD player and alerted flight attendants who berated the passenger verbally and tried to determine his intent. It was an extremely tense situation, and the pilot ordered an emergency landing in San Francisco where the passenger was taken into custody by police. The DVD player
lady was distraught and crying the rest of the flight to Chicago.

Terrifying, right? Our tipster goes on to say: