A woman who has been named “Airplane Karen” by social media is facing assault charges after slapping and spitting on a passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight.
The incident was caught on video and is one of the worse ones we’ve seen yet.
The woman now identified as Patricia Cornwall is seen in the video standing in the aisle with her mask down below her chin, telling an older male to put his mask on.
According to Yahoo News, the incident started on Flight 2790 from Tampa to Atlanta on Dec. 23 because Cornwall was trying to get back to her seat, but a snack cart was blocking her way. When she was told to sit in an open seat until the cart moved, she allegedly yelled, ‘Who am I? Rosa Parks?”
The seated male passenger stated, “You’re not Black. This isn’t Alabama and this isn’t a bus.”
That’s when things took a turn for the worse.
“Put your f–king mask on, who invited you?” Cornwall yells as she’s still standing in the aisle.
“I’m eating,” the man replies as he attempts to get out of his seat and confronts the woman.
The passenger next to him is trying to deescalate the situation by not allowing him to get out of his seat.
“Sit down, Karen. You’re a godda*n Karen, sit down,” he yells.
Flight attendants tried to intervene but it further escalates after the male passenger called her a “b—h.”
Cornwall slaps him in the face and proceeds to hit him with a closed fist. The man yells, “that’s assault, now you’re going to jail.”
And just when you think it couldn’t get any uglier, Cornwall then spits on the man as she’s being dragged away by flight attendants and other passengers.
Airplane Karen was taken into police and then FBI custody once the flight landed in Atlanta as the “disturbance led to the injury of fellow passengers and Delta employees,” according to Atlanta police.
She spent Christmas Day in jail and was allowed to fly home to Los Angeles after posting a $20K bond, as reported by Heavy.
According to NBC News, Delta Air Lines issues the following statement: “Flight 2790 from Tampa to Atlanta was met by law enforcement after an unruly customer disturbance during flight. Situations like these are rare for the vast majority of our customers, and Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior at our airports and aboard our aircraft.”
Data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shows reports of 5,779 unruly passengers as of Dec. 21. More than 70% are related to masks.
