Former NFL cheerleader Patricia Cornwall was caught in a physical altercation with another passenger on board a Delta Airlines flight from Tampa Bay to Atlanta on December 23 over wearing a mask. A video of Cornwall fighting with the elderly passenger, slapping and hurling abuses at him went viral on the internet. Now, new information that has come to light hints that the fight was instigated because of Cornwall's possibly racist remarks.
According to the video of the altercation posted by ATL Uncensored on Twitter on Friday night, Cornwall started a fight with an elderly passenger, asking him to wear his mask while he was drinking and eating. The man tried to explain that he's eating and therefore cannot wear his mask. Cornwall, however, paid no heed and started hurling abuses at the man. The 1 minute 51 seconds long video showed Cornwall and the man fiercely engaged in profanity.
According to TMZ, prior to the altercation with the elderly man, Cornwall, while returning to her seat from the washroom in the back of the plane, was blocked by a flight attendant in the aisle. During the conversation that followed, Cornwall made a 'Rosa Parks' remark. The elderly man in question overheard the same and made a comment, which in turn started the fight on a whole new topic.
'Who am I, Rosa Parks?'
After she was blocked in the aisle, Cornwall asked the flight attendant to help her look for her seat. The flight attendant politely requested her to look for an open seat until beverage service was over. "What am I Rosa Parks?" a triggered Cornwall replied. It was then that the aforementioned elderly man said 'she isn't Black ... this isn't Alabama and this isn't a bus.' Cornwall then took the conversation in a whole new direction, asking the man to put on his mask.
The officers of the Atlanta Police Department received a call about a rowdy passenger on Delta flight 2790 on Thursday. Cornwall was detained by the police for causing a disturbance that reportedly led to the injury of fellow passengers and Delta employees. It is not clear whether any charges were filed against her at the moment.
