Arizona man accused of assaulting flight attendant on Delta flight
The incident happened on an Atlanta-Phoenix flight, and the man is also accused of using homophobic slurs at the flight attendant.
PHOENIX – Investigators allege an Arizona man assaulted a flight attendant during a Delta flight to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.
According to court documents, FBI investigators accuse Christopher Alexander Morgan of disrupting a flight crew member.
The incident occurred aboard Delta Flight 2908, which flew April 22 from Phoenix to Atlanta.
Incident started before takeoff
According to investigators, Morgan was uncooperative before the flight took off and refused to follow instructions from flight crews. During the flight, Morgan was offered a soft drink when he requested a second alcoholic drink, which angered him.
At the time, investigators said Morgan insulted the flight attendant with profanity and homophobic slurs and threw a glass of ice cream at him. When that flight attendant went to the galley near the cockpit to report the disruption to the captain via an airplane phone, Morgan stood up, grabbed the flight attendant’s phone and hit him in the chest with it.
According to court records, another passenger overheard Morgan using another homophobic person towards the flight attendant and saw Morgan take the plane phone from the flight attendant and throw it at him.
Suspect questioned by FBI in Phoenix
Morgan was later questioned by the FBI after the plane landed in Phoenix.
“According to Morgan, he was on his way home to Arizona. Morgan said the flight attendant was gay and that he was uncomfortable with it,” part of the court documents said. “Morgan said he was homophobic and it was possible he intimidated the flight attendants.
According to investigators, Morgan admitted to calling the flight attendant a homophobic term, but denied assaulting the flight attendant and said he never touched a phone.
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A Delta spokesperson issued a statement on the incident, stating:
Delta Flight 2908 on April 22 from Atlanta to Phoenix was picked up upon arrival by law enforcement following a reported incident involving a customer on board. Delta has zero tolerance for bad behavior and discrimination at our airports and on board our aircraft, and takes seriously all reports of such behavior, especially when directed to our employees. Nothing is more important than the safety of our employees and our customers.
In February, Officials requested at Delta that the U.S. Department of Justice placed anyone convicted of disrupting an aircraft on the national no-fly list. The airline’s CEO, Ed Bastian, said the rate of incidents at the airline has increased by almost 100% since 2019.
Also read: The FAA says reports of unruly airline passengers are down 50% so far in 2022
“This action will help prevent future incidents and serve as a powerful symbol of the consequences of not following the instructions of crew members on commercial aircraft,” Bastian wrote in the letter that Delta Air Lines sent to The Associated Press.
The Associated Press (AP) contributed to this report.