FBI detains woman after ‘disturbance’ on a flight from Tampa to Atlanta

ATLANTA — The FBI detained a woman Thursday after authorities said she caused a disturbance on a Delta Air Lines flight from Tampa, Florida, to Atlanta.

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Delta flight 2790 departed from Tampa International Airport at 5:39 p.m. EST Thursday, the Tampa Bay Times reported. According to the Atlanta Police Department, Patricia Cornwall became unruly and injured passengers and Delta employees, the newspaper reported.

When the plane landed at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, authorities relied on statements from passengers and visible evidence led police to detain Cornwall, according to the Times.

Police contacted the on-call FBI agent at the airport, and officers moved Cornwall to the Atlanta Police Department precinct, the newspaper reported. FBI agents then took custody of Cornwall.

Authorities have not released information about what led up to the disturbance, and what charges, if any, Cornwall might be facing, WSB-TV reported.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, federal law “prohibits assaults, intimidation and threats of violence that interfere with flight crews and flight attendants, as well as other enumerated criminal acts that occur during (a) flight.”

“Flight 2790 from Tampa to Atlanta was met by law enforcement after an unruly customer disturbance during (the) flight,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement. “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.”

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