A passenger allegedly grabbed a flight attendant in a chokehold and threatened to cut her head off with a broken shard of glass which he was holding against her neck in a horrifying incident that unfolded onboard a Delta Air Lines flight as it landed in New Orleans on Wednesday.
According to officials, the suspect has been identified as 39-year-old Nelson Montgomery, who has been arrested on suspicion of aggravated battery and using offensive words and is currently being held at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center.
Delta Air flight DL2432 departed Atlanta at around 3:50 pm on August 2 for what should have been a routine one-hour flight to New Orleans. The flight seemingly passed off peacefully, but as it was arriving in the ‘Big Easy’, things took a dramatic turn of events.
One of the passengers onboard the Airbus A321 told local news station WVUE that flight attendants had asked for medical assistance to treat Montgomery for an injury he had sustained.
Montgomery was reportedly bleeding “profusely” from the neck, but before he could be treated, he allegedly grabbed one of the flight attendants in a chokehold.
Witnesses say Montgomery was brandishing what appeared to be a broken shard of glass which he then held to the flight attendant’s neck and threatened to cut her head off.
A group of eight passengers reportedly tackled Montgomery and managed to detain him until law enforcement was able to take him into custody. The flight attendant sustained minor injuries in the form of two cuts and was treated at the scene.
In a statement, a Delta Air Lines spokesperson described the incident as a “customer issue”.
“Delta flight 2432 operating from Atlanta to New Orleans was met by law enforcement personnel upon landing following a reported customer issue onboard,” the statement read.
“Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior on our aircraft and in our airports. Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our people and our customers.”
In March, a passenger on a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston allegedly attempted to stab a flight attendant in the neck with a homemade shank which he had fashioned out of a broken spoon.
Francisco Severo Torres, 33, faces trial on a charge of interference with flight crew members, but the case has been indefinitely delayed because a judge has determined that mental disease has rendered him “mentally incompetent” to currently stand trial.
Prosecutors allege that Torres initially tried to open an emergency exit door on the transcontinental flight before lunging towards a flight attendant with a stabbing motion.
