4 days ago
Charges: Woman assaults flight attendant on Delta plane at MSP after being told to put bag away
Charges: Woman assaults flight attendant on Delta plane at MSP after being told to put bag away originally appeared on Bring Me The News.
A California woman is facing charges in Minnesota after a disturbance on a Delta flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport over the weekend.
Priya Swaminathan, a 45-year-old attorney from San Jose, is charged with obstruction of the legal process – a gross misdemeanor, 5th-degree assault, disorderly conduct and interference with flight operations due to an incident on board Delta flight DL2089 from MSP to San Francisco on Sunday evening.
According to the charges, police were called to Gate C14 at Terminal 1 on a report that a passenger was "causing a disturbance, yelling at passengers, and had allegedly assaulted a Delta crew member."
A Delta flight attendant says that the passenger, allegedly identified as Swaminathan, had been asked to put her bags in the overhead compartment but refused to do so. When it was time to close the plane's doors, Swaminathan was informed there was no more room for her bags and she would need to "plane-side check them."
At this point, the passenger allegedly "became angry and starting yelling while pacing up and down the aisle and screaming at other passengers." She then allegedly "charged" at one of the flight attendants "and pushed her with both hands in the chest."
The criminal complaint says Swaminathan then refused to disembark the plane, and when officers arrived they found her "standing in the aisle and leaning up against a seat back between rows 1 and 2."
Two officers grabbed Swaminathan's arms, with the complaint saying she refused to put her hands behind her back. She was then taken off the aircraft and moved "up against the jet bridge wall in an attempt to control her."
Police claimed that Swaminathan had a "strong odor of a consumed alcoholic beverage," and allegedly had bloodshot and watery eyes.
As they escorted her down the jet bridge stairs, she allegedly refused to walk, and when lifted, she "began to flail her body and kicked herself free from [the officer's] grasp."
The complaint says she also knocked off an officer's bodycam, and tried to unbuckle her seat belt when placed in a squad vehicle.
In the end, takeoff for Delta flight DL2089 was delayed by 20 minutes.
Bring Me The News has reached out to Swaminathan for comment.
This story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
