An airborne “Karen” has gone viral in a video where she attacks an elderly man for not wearing a mask while eating on a Delta airplane en route to Atlanta, according to a video widely shared on Twitter.
“By the end of the ordeal a streak of blood could be seen coming down the man’s cheek,” reported ZeroHedge, “as he was injured after being punched by the woman.
At one point the attacker, later identified by police and the airline as Patricia Cornwall, is seen scratching the man’s face.”
“Sit down, Karen!”pic.twitter.com/gHASRMHz6X
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) December 25, 2021
The plane was met by local police, as well as by federal agents, who took over the investigation, according to 11 Alive News in Atlanta.
Federal aviation law says “no person may assault, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with a crewmember in the performance of the crewmember’s duties aboard an aircraft being operated.”
In addition to facing charges for interference with the operation of a passenger jet, the woman could be facing felony charges for assault, according to one federal defense attorney interviewed by 11 Alive.
“She might also face criminal charges for assault and maybe battery,” attorney Tom Church said. “My understanding is she punched him, scratched him, and spit on him. I think each of those individually can be a criminal charge, a criminal count.”
There have been 4,156 mask related incidents on commercial flights so far this year, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
“The repercussions for passengers who engage in unruly behavior can be substantial. They can be fined by the FAA or prosecuted on criminal charges,” said the FAA’s website on “unruly passengers.” Each occurrence can bring a fine of up to $37,000.
Delta Airlines released a statement to a local reporter, saying they have a zero tolerance policy for unruly passenger behavior.
“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,” said the Delta statement on White’s Facebook page.
