A racist incident on Virgin Atlantic flight VS250 from London to Shanghai in which a passenger was allegedly called a “Chinese pig” has raised the ire of millions of Chinese netizens.

In an article posted to Weibo, Liu Wei alleges she was verbally berated by a fellow passenger and then a member of the flight crew: “A 55-something white man suddenly rose from his seat and walked towards me. Gnashing his teeth in anger and pointing at my nose, he said, ‘You f*cking Chinese pig!!! Get the f*ck out of here!'” Liu wrote on her post, as translated by the People’s Daily Online.

While the man continued to attack Liu with profanity and other discriminatory words, a couple came to her aid: “A British man and his Chinese wife decided they could not have it anymore and stepped up to stop him, but they were threatened by the man,” Liu said.

When a member of the flight crew finally arrived, things only got worse for Liu. “The flight attendant walked towards me and loudly scolded me, asking me to stop quarreling with the man or I would be asked to leave the plane immediately,” she wrote.

The attendant then left, but returned after other passengers were said to have come to her defense. That’s when the flight crew member apparently told Liu, “I will change the man’s seat to another because he is mentally ill. This would be good for all.”

However, Liu said the seat change never happened, and she was forced to stay awake for the entire 11 hour flight. “When all the other passengers went to sleep, I sat there. “Terror, anger, humiliation, and powerlessness and frustration of being a Chinese seized my heart. I could not breathe.”Terror, anger, humiliation, and powerlessness and frustration of being a Chinese seized my heart. I could not breathe,” Liu wrote.

Liu said a Chinese flight crew member explained to her that the situation couldn’t be helped. Liu was told by the Chinese flight attendant, “The attendant who scolded you was our superior. He had told us to get you out of the plane if the dispute continues.”

Virgin Atlantic has promised to investigate the incident. Even Virgin CEO Richard Branson commented on the incident in a Twitter post: “Really sorry to hear about an alleged incident on flight VS250. We do not tolerate abuse and @virginatlantic are investigating.”

China Daily reports that Liu’s Weibo post has caused “national rage” and has been viewed by five million readers.