A first-class Delta passenger grabbed a flight attendant and kissed him on the neck, lawsuit says

• A Texas man is accused of causing a "level 2 security threat" on a flight from Minnesota to Alaska.
• The man forcibly kissed a flight attendant who rejected his advances, court documents say.

A Texas man is accused of drinking heavily on a flight from Minnesota to Alaska, trying to force himself on a flight attendant, and breaking a plate containing the pilot's meal.

A probable-cause affidavit first obtained by the Daily Beast, on April 10, claims that the passenger, David Alan Burk, became unruly on a Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis to Anchorage, Alaska.

The documents say the incident began when Burk was "snippy" with a flight attendant, who told him there would not be time to serve him a preflight drink.

After takeoff, the flight attendant — identified as TC — served Burk a glass of red wine, and when he later returned to pick up Burk's meal tray Burk shook his hand, the affidavit says.

The documents say that Burk was on his way to the bathroom about 10 minutes later when he stopped in the galley where TC was.

Burk was alleged to have said: "Oh, you're so beautiful."

Here is how the document describes what was alleged to have followed:

"T.C. smiled and politely said, 'Thank you.' BURK then asked, 'Can I have a kiss?' T.C. replied, 'No, thank you' to which BURK then said, 'Okay, well on the neck then.' While the plane was in flight, BURK then grabbed T.C.'s neck, pulling him toward BURK, and purposefully kissed T.C.'s neck. T.C. stated he was 'very uncomfortable and caught off-guard' by what BURK had just done."

"T.C. stated that when BURK had kissed him, he felt uncomfortable, awkward, and thought, "What the hell just happened?" the documents say.

The documents say that after the incident, TC told other flight attendants about it, and said he didn't want to be near Burk until he'd returned to his seat. When he saw Burk was seated, he went back to the front galley and was told by another flight attendant that Burk had broken a plate on a tray with the captain's meal on it.

When TC delivered another meal to the captain, the pilot said that he had reported the incident to Delta, that law enforcement would be alerted, and it was classified as a "level 2 security threat."

A female flight attendant who took over serving the first-class section told TC that Burk had 2 more glasses of wine, appeared "wasted", and slept for the rest of the flight, the documents say.

The police arrested Burk when the plane landed in Anchorage.

In interviews with the police, Burk said he had had one glass of wine after takeoff and slept for the rest of the flight. Burk said he had not gone to the bathroom during the flight, and, when asked if he had kissed TC, said he "never kissed anybody." He also denied breaking the plate.

Burk refused to take a Breathalyzer test, but said that he'd consumed alcohol before the flight, the documents say. Burk told police that he was in Alaska to administer the estate of a friend who had died.

Insider contacted Burk's legal representative for comment but did not immediately hear back. Insider has also sought to contact Burk for comment on the allegations. He is due in court on April 27.

In recent years, the Federal Aviation Authority has reported a surge in violent and other disruptive incidents on planes, with figures showing that 2,455 such incidents were recorded in 2022, and the highest-ever number was recorded in 2021, with 5,973 incidents.

Correction: April 21, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misstated the number of violent and other disruptive incidents reported to the Federal Aviation Authority. The FAA reports that there were 5,973 such incidents in 2021 and 2,455 in 2022.