An airline passenger was arrested as he left a flight after being accused of stealing $300 from the purse of a flight attendant.

Torry Johnson had been flying back from a holiday in Iceland when airline staff claimed he stole foreign currency from the attendant’s purse.

Mr Johnson, who was heading to Boston, Massachusetts, was confronted by angry Icelandair staff while the plane was in the air over Greenland.

Police say Johnson returned the foreign currency, before locking himself in the aircraft’s bathroom, where it is thought he flushed the remaining missing cash down the toilet.

Officials believe the currency he flushed down the plane’s toilet was U.S. dollars.

Massachusetts State Police said they arrested Johnson after he disembarked from Icelandair Flight 631 at Logan International Airport on Sunday at 5 p.m.

Ground staff at the airport were still trying to retrieve the missing money from the flight’s storage tanks, police said.

Johnson was released from police custody on Sunday evening.