By Hannah Sampson
A New Orleans man on a Delta Air Lines flight was taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon after he allegedly harmed himself, grabbed a flight attendant and injured her with a "sharp object" after the plane landed.
According to Captain Jason Rivarde of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, 39-year-old Nelson Montgomery was arrested on charges of aggravated battery, disturbing the peace and simple battery.
He was a passenger on Delta flight 2432, which had landed at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport after taking off from Atlanta.
Around 4pm, investigators believe Montgomery hurt himself using the unspecified sharp object, a statement from Rivarde said.
"After doing so, he grabbed a flight attendant," Rivarde said in the statement. "She suffered two superficial lacerations from the sharp object and was later treated on scene."
"Several" passengers, Rivarde said, subdued Montgomery until deputies got to the plane and arrested him.
Details about what led to the incident were not clear. In a statement, Delta said only that the flight was met by law enforcement after landing "following a reported customer issue onboard."
"Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behaviour on our aircraft and in our airports," the statement said. "Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our people and our customers."
A booking photo shows Montgomery with gauze or some kind of bandage stretched across his neck.
After being treated at a hospital for injuries that were not considered life-threatening, he was booked at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Centre. He remained listed in an online inmate search Thursday afternoon.
Reports of unruly passenger incidents spiked after air travel roared back following the first year of the pandemic, reaching nearly 6,000 in 2021.