It may have only begun as a demand for a humble bag of nibbles, but the threatening behaviour of one unruly passenger could have gone on to cost an airline £350,000 a court has heard. 
 
 The full cost of diverting a packed transatlantic airliner emerged as a judge heard how a plane had to make an unscheduled stop when a passenger repeatedly demanded bags of nuts. 
 
 Alarmed by the passenger’s allegedly aggressive behaviour, the pilot decided to touch down in Belfast, after first dumping 50,000 litres of aviation fuel to make the stop. 
 
 Once on the ground, the 282 passengers had to wait almost 24 hours to take off again because getting under way immediately would have broken the crew’s legal flying hours limit. Almost all the passengers had to sleep on the terminal floor. 
 
 Jeremiah Mathis Thede, from California, appeared at Coleraine Magistrates' Court on Monday charged with endangering the safety of the aircraft, disruptive behaviour on board and common assault against a stewardess. 
 
 The court heard the United Airlines plane was en route from Rome to Chicago on Saturday evening when crew and other passengers raised concerns about the defendant. 
 
 A constable with the airport constabulary told the court the trouble began when Mr Thede allegedly got up 15 minutes after take-off, with the seat belt lights still on, and demanded "nuts or crackers". 
 
 He said Mr Thede, from The Alameda in Berkeley, California, refused to sit back down again until he obtained a snack. 
 
 A member of crew managed to "appease" the passenger by giving him some nuts and Mr Thede then retook his seat. 
 
 But ten minutes later he got up and demanded more. Crew replied he would only get another snack if there were packets left over when other travellers had been served. 
 
 The policeman said Thede retorted: "I can have as much nuts and crackers as I f****** want." 
 
 Fellow passengers were also concerned by his behaviour, claiming he kept getting up and down from his seat, repeatedly opened the overhead baggage lockers, blocked the aisles and made numerous trips to the lavatories. 
 
 The captain asked a number of men to sit around the passenger in case he became violent. However, the constable acknowledged that "no one was struck" during the flight. 
 
 Mr Thede's "erratic" behaviour prompted the captain to turn round when he was already over the Atlantic, and head back to land Belfast International Airport, around 20 miles from the city centre. 
 
 Asked by a prosecution barrister to assess the cost of the incident, the constable replied: 
 
 "It would be upwards of 300,000 to 350,000 pounds. There is compensation for passengers. There were 269 passengers lying sleeping on the floor of the terminal because there were no hotel rooms found for them." 
 
 Mr Thede, denies the offences and told police the pilot had overreacted. 
 
 The constable said: "He said it wasn't him, there was a conspiracy theory against him, people were picking on him," he said. 
 
 His solicitor said alcohol was not a factor, as a police doctor had examined him upon arrest and deemed him "fit to be interviewed". 
 
 "His position is he's done nothing wrong and effectively this is an overreaction by staff in the plane, those in charge," said the lawyer. 
 
 The airport police constable objected to the granting of bail, on the ground that the accused could abscond the jurisdiction. 
 
 The defendant was remanded in custody to appear before magistrates’ next week. Judge Christopher Holmes also ordered a psychiatric examination. ||||| Police: Berkeley man went berserk on plane over nuts 
 
 Video: Man charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft on Chicago bound flight 
 
 A Berkeley man was arrested after he allegedly grew irate while demanding nuts and crackers while on board a United Airlines flight bound for Chicago, forcing the plane to divert to Belfast, Ireland, according to media reports. 
 
 Jeremiah Mathias Thede, 42, appeared before a magistrate on charges of endangering the safety of an aircraft, being disorderly and assaulting a member of the cabin crew. 
 
 About 15 minutes into the flight from Rome to Chicago on Saturday, Thede allegedly got out of his seat while the seat-belt light was still on and refused a flight attendant’s request to sit down. Thede said he wouldn’t return to his seat until he was given nuts and crackers, authorities said. 
 
 He sat back down after being given the snacks but got back up again 10 minutes later and asked for more, according to media reports. Flight attendants said Thede became abusive, blocked the aisle and grabbed bags from the overhead bins, frightening passengers, authorities said. 
 
 The captain decided to divert the plane to Belfast because of the man’s behavior, but before landing, the plane had to dump fuel as a precautionary measure because of the shortened flight. Many passengers were forced to spend the night at the airport, investigators said. 
 
 A message left for Thede on Tuesday was not immediately returned. 
 
 Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com 
 
 Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 10: A United Airlines plane sits on the... 
 
 
 

– Now in the running for worst air traveler of the year: A middle-aged Berkeley man accused of wigging out over nuts and crackers. Authorities say Jeremiah Thede, 42, was on a United flight from Rome to Chicago Saturday when he got out of his seat just 15 minutes into the flight—despite the "Fasten Seat Belt" sign being lit—and demanded the snacks, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. He got them, sat back down, then allegedly stood up and demanded more about 10 minutes later. Told no, he reportedly said, "I can have as much nuts and crackers as I f------ want." The crew says he was acting dangerously belligerent, and the pilot diverted the flight to Belfast—but to do so cost the airline an estimated $550,000 thanks to the fuel he had to jettison to make a safe landing, plus costs related to the approximately 270 other passengers who had to wait 24 hours at the airport before getting another flight, reports the Telegraph. Thede, who accuses the pilot of overreacting, is charged with endangering the safety of the aircraft, disruptive behavior, and assault against a stewardess. "He said it wasn't him, there was a conspiracy theory against him, people were picking on him," says a police constable. (This is not the only nut-related air rage case to make headlines recently.)