Photo courtesy of The Grio
A pre-Christmas flight headed to Atlanta was disrupted as a woman labeled ‘Airplane Karen’ attacked a male passenger on the plane.
The incident was captured in a nearly two-minute video and uploaded from the ATL Uncensored Twitter account. In the video, the woman identified as Patricia Cornwall, 51, was shown standing with her mask below her chin on Flight 2790 from Tampa, Florida, on Dec. 23. She then assaulted an older male passenger who was seated as she repeatedly told him to put his mask on, according to The Grio.
*** Warning, the video contains profane language, NSFW***
As Cornwall was headed back to her seat, a beverage cart was blocking the walkway of the plane. When a passenger suggested she sit in an open chair until the cart was moved, she allegedly said, “Who am I, Rosa Parks?”
A passenger seated nearby told her, “You’re not Black, this isn’t Alabama, and this isn’t a bus.”
The confrontation went viral after one of the passengers recorded the footage obtained by ATL Uncensored.
“Sit down, Karen. You’re a god—- Karen, sit down,” the man shouted, as other passengers were amused on the flight. The back-and-forth continued between passengers as flight attendants attempted to alleviate the situation.
When the man calls her a “b—-, “Cornwall strikes him in the face and continues to attack him as an attendant holds her back, and the man yells, “That’s assault, now you’re going to jail!”
The 51-year-old spat on the man as they continued to argue with each other until she was hauled away by flight attendants and other passengers, The Grio reported.
Cornwall, a former Playboy model and actress, was taken in by police and then FBI custody after landing in Atlanta. She spent Christmas Day in jail and was allowed to fly home to Los Angeles after posting a $20K bond, Heavy reported.
“This disturbance led to the injury of fellow passengers and Delta employees,”
said Atlanta Police.The airline industry has had an influx of passenger-related incidents due to the COVID-19 guidelines. However, many customers have become combative while being told to wear their masks while aboard their respective flights.
“According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there have been 5,779 “unruly passenger” reports and 4,156 mask-related incidents this year as of Dec. 21. The federal mask mandate requires passengers to wear a mask when not eating or drinking.”