KENNER, La. — A Delta Air Lines passenger is in jail, accused in a bloody attack on board a New Orleans bound flight from Atlanta.
According to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, the plane had just arrived at Louis Armstrong International Airport around 4, Wednesday afternoon.
Investigators say that’s when the man cut himself and attacked a flight attendant before being subdued by fellow passengers.
Raquel Davis and her family from Slidell were on the flight, returning from a European vacation.
She said as they were taxiing to the gate, there was an announcement asking for assistance.
“They said something like we need help, can someone please come and help us, and my son got up, my husband got up, a lot of men got up and started to run to the front. The whole middle aisle was full of people willing to step in to help.”
Davis was sitting in row 35, near the back.
She took a picture showing people gathering in front of the plane.
“They said that there’s been an incident and that there was blood spattered,” Davis said. “That’s when we went whoa, what, blood spatter, what has happened up there.”
A JPSO spokesman said Nelson Montgomery, 39, cut his own neck, then grabbed and injured a flight attendant.
The flight attendant received some minor injuries from an undisclosed sharp object.
Passengers on the plane quickly restrained Nelson, who was arrested at the gate.
A friend who came to the airport to pick up the Davis family, took a picture of authorities wheeling Nelson through the terminal.
“My son’s girlfriend, when she saw the man leave, he was bloodied,” Davis said. “He had a lot of blood on his shirt.”
Davis said she was impressed with how the Delta flight crew handled the situation.
“They were hustling to take care of the situation, but they didn’t do anything that made us feel like, oh my God, we’re in big danger. To know they were only doing their job and then someone attacked them is scary, super scary for them and for us.”
Nelson was treated for his injuries at an area hospital. He was later booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center on charges of aggravated battery, simple battery and disturbing the peace.
A check of Nelson’s court record shows he has prior arrests in both Jefferson and Orleans parishes.
He was convicted of aggravated assault and illegal carrying of a weapon ten years ago.
A Delta spokesperson told CBS News, "Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior on our aircraft and in our airports."
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