Ex-'Baywatch' Actress Slaps Elderly For Not Wearing Mask In Plane

A 51-year-old woman who appeared on the original Baywatch television show was arrested after she was caught on camera striking a fellow passenger during a flight from Florida to Georgia last week.

Patricia Cornwall was accused of "assault by striking, beating or wounding" a man — identified in court documents as R.S.M. — while the two were aboard Delta Flight 2790 bound from Tampa to Atlanta last Thursday, CNN reported.

She also spat on R.S.M.'s face and head area, the victim claimed.

Cornwall, whose stage name is Patty Breton, was returning to her seat after going to the bathroom when she asked for help finding her seat from a flight attendant handling a beverage cart that was blocking the aisle, a report by The New York Post said, citing a federal complaint filed in Georgia.

The flight attendant asked Cornwall to find a vacant seat until the beverage service was complete, to which Cornwall replied with, "What am I, Rosa Parks?"

In response, a fellow passenger told Cornwall that she "isn't black... this isn't Alabama and this isn't a bus," the affidavit indicated.

Cornwall and the victim proceeded to exchange insults, with R.S.M. telling Cornwall to "Sit down, Karen!" at one point. Cornwall responded by telling the victim to "Sit down, p***y."

Cornwall ended up slapping R.S.M., who then shouted, "You're going to jail," during the heated exchange.

A purported video of the incident used in reports, which the Atlanta Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to confirm as footage of the encounter, showed a woman with a mask below her chin yelling at a man to put his mask on.

The man responded by saying he did not have to pull up his mask because he was eating. He then used a sexist slur against the woman, which prompted her to hit and spit on the man.

Authorities arrested Cornwall at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and she was taken into custody by the FBI. She was charged with assault and made her first court appearance on Monday afternoon in a federal court in Atlanta.

Cornwall, whose bond was set at $20,000 by Judge Christopher Bly, was permitted to return home in Los Angeles by plane if she followed the requirements laid out by the judge.

Bly also mandated that Cornwall was not allowed to travel by interstate commercial carrier — whether it be via plane, bus or train — while she was out on bail.

Delta has placed Cornwall on a no-fly list, her attorney confirmed in court proceedings.

The airline confirmed that Flight 2790 was "met by law enforcement after an unruly customer disturbance during flight" through company spokesperson Grant Myatt.

"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," Myatt added.

Cornwall, who recently worked as a realtor, played minor roles on the television shows "Baywatch" and "Married... With Children," according to her IMDb page. She was also featured in the video documentaries "Playboy: Cheerleaders" and "Playboy: Women Behaving Badly."

Before the Flight 2790 incident, Cornwall was arrested in Florida after she crashed her car into a tree in Santa Rose Beach on Nov. 10 and "became belligerent," another report by The New York Post said, citing court and police records.

Cornwall initially refused to exit the vehicle or give authorities her name, but she later started "going after" first responders after leaving her car.

"Once we stopped her she tried to fight us. At that point, she was detained for her safety and ours," a Walton County sheriff's deputy said before adding that they "detected an odor of alcohol emitting from [Cornwall's] breath."

Cornwall was also arrested in Los Angeles on Dec. 11, 2020, and she pleaded no contest to having a Blood/Breath Alcohol Concentration of 0.08 or more.