Delta plane
The flight was operated by Delta Airlines in partnership with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.Getty Images
  • A viral video shows an unmasked woman hitting and spitting on an unmasked man mid-flight on Dec. 23.
  • The two then got into a verbal argument before she appeared to hit him, as seen in the video.
  • Patricia Cornwall was later arrested by Atlanta Police and then transferred into FBI custody. 

A heated confrontation on a Delta flight from Tampa to Atlanta is the latest in a series of unruly flight passengers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A viral video shows Patricia Cornwall slapping an unnamed man during Delta Airlines flight 2790 on December 23. The video has since gained more than eight million views. 

Cornwall was arrested by officers with the Atlanta Police Department and taken into custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigation once the flight landed, according to a statement by the police department.

"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," Delta said in an emailed statement to Insider.

According to court documents obtained by the news platform Heavy, Cornwall was asked to take a seat after using the restroom as beverage service was taking place.

Cornwall responded to the flight attendant: "What am I, Rosa Parks?"

An unmasked passenger, who was solely identified as RSM in the documents, told Cornwall that she "isn't Black" and that "this isn't Alabama and this isn't a bus." The Daily Beast reported that he was in the middle of eating and drinking before the altercation took place. 

The two then got into a verbal argument before she appeared to slap, spit on, and scratch the man, as seen in the viral video of the incident. Throughout the two-minute clip, both resorted to calling each other derogatory names such as "dick," "pussy," and "piece of shit."

Cornwall, who was wearing her mask under her chin, said, "Put your fucking mask on," and "Don't you dare talk to me like that… stand your ass up" to RSM.

"I'll talk to you any fucking way I want to," RSM responded in the video. He is heard repeatedly calling her "Karen" and a "bitch."

"Soon as we get to Atlanta, you're going to jail, bitch," RSM is heard saying in the video after Cornwall appeared to strike him

Read the original article on Insider