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Who is Patricia Cornwall? Delta Airlines Karen slaps and spits on maskless old man

'While she was yelling at him, she was not masked. This is them—they make no sense and are filled with crazy rage,' a Twitter user commented

A violent incident onboard a Delta Airlines flight happened on Thursday, December 23, after a woman assaulted an elderly man for not wearing his mask while eating and drinking. A video of the incident, filmed by a co-passenger, has now gone viral all over the internet with the angry woman being dubbed a 'Karen'. In fact, she was called a 'Karen' in the video itself by other passengers, who attempted to restrain her. She has been identified as Patricia Cornwall, who was flying from Tampa to Atlanta on the Delta flight. 

Instances of 'flight Karens' are not quite rare these days and have particularly increased after the pandemic. In October 2021, a woman suddenly got up mid-air and stood in front of her fellow passengers before using her microphone to yell about Covid-19. She also spewed conspiracy theories like, “The pandemic started all because humans had lost a little bit of faith." In August this year, another 'flight Karen' nonchalantly lit up a cigarette on board a Spirit Airlines flight, saying 'It's been a long day'. 

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In the latest video from Delta Airlines, Patricia Cornwall can be seen losing it with an old man, who had apparently lowered his face mask inside the flight for eating and drinking purposes. Cornwall appears livid as she approaches and stands above him, starting a heated argument over the mask.

Cornwall repeatedly 'orders' the man to put on his mask, without listening to his reasons. Ironically, she herself appears to have lowered her own mask at chin level while going ballistic on the elderly guy. Eventually, Cornwall goes to the extent of striking him, before spitting on the man's face, prompting the flight attendants to get involved. They tried to restrain her in vain as she jostles with them and continues to threaten the old man. Even after the elderly passenger calls her a 'Karen' to her face, she appears indifferent. 

After the flight landed in Atlanta, Patricia 'Karen' Cornwall was reportedly detained by the police and then handed over to the FBI. She has been booked for the assault but her exact charges remain unclear. Meanwhile, the video of her in-flight antics and assault on an old man has now drawn a lot of flak online. 

"#PatriciaCornwall deserves to be forever banned from flying and cancelled from working. She needs institutional therapy. Lock her up. She is a danger to those around her," a Twitter user demanded. 

Another user shared the video and wrote, "This crazy mask lunatic POS is named Patricia Cornwall. She assaulted and spit on this man who was taking a drink. Of course, while she was yelling at him, she was not masked. This is them—they make no sense and are filled with crazy rage. That’s why I left that cult."

Sportscaster Rachel Joy tweeted, "Thoughts on #covidKaren aka Patricia Cornwall: hurt people hurt people. I look back at my life and every single time someone was ugly to me, it was always about their junk. Not mine. Having said that, she needs some help for her anger. I would revoke her privilege of flying TBD."

An internet sleuth chanced upon an ad for roommates posted by Patricia Cornwall online, where she describes herself as — "Moving from California. I am single divorced and have two grown children who are overseas in UK. I have been practicing residential real estate for 13 years in Los Angeles/Westside. I have also lived in Florida in the past few years and I’m excited to reintroduce Florida back into my life permanently."