A six-foot-tall 29-year-old woman allegedly assaulted a Delta Air Lines flight attendant as a flight from Memphis International Airport, which was preparing to depart on Tuesday, police have alleged.
While being detained by local law enforcement, Jessica Thomas is also alleged to have assaulted a police officer, leading to charges of disorderly conduct, two counts of assault on a first responder, and assault.
The incident occurred on February 17, although details have now only just been made public by the Memphis Police Department.
According to initial reports, police were called to Gate 12 at Memphis Airport at around midday on Tuesday, where Delta Air Lines flight DL-82 was preparing for departure to Atlanta.
It had been alleged that Thomas had struck one of the flight attendants in the face on board the airplane. When police attempted to detain Thomas, they alleged that she became irate and physically attacked them.
During the ensuing struggle, Thomas allegedly bit one of the officers on the arm and kicked another officer in both legs.
Thomas has been detained at Shelby County Jail since her arrest and is being held on a bond of $2,500. She is due to appear in court on Friday.
Despite the incident, Delta flight 82 only ended up departing Memphis around 37 minutes late, according to publicly available flight tracking data.
The incident happened just a day before another assault on a Delta flight that had just taken off from Houston Hobby Airport early on Wednesday morning.
In that incident, the male suspect allegedly assaulted other passengers and flight attendants as flight DL-2557, operated by a Boeing 717 with 85 passengers and five crew members, was still in its initial ascent after takeoff.
The aircraft climbed to a maximum altitude of just 6,050 feet before veering off course and heading back towards Houston Hobby, where it was given priority clearance to land.
A spokesperson for Delta Air Lines denied initial reports that the suspect had attempted to breach the cockpit, although the pilot had initially suggested this was the case in recordings of air traffic control communications between the plane and the airport tower.
According to official FAA data, there have already been 126 unruly passenger incidents reported to the agency in the first month of 2026.
However, if those numbers remain steady for the remainder of the year, it would represent a huge drop from 2021, when the FAA was receiving an average of nearly 500 unruly passenger reports every month.
