The woman who was arrested for getting violent with an older man on a Delta flight made a smart aleck remark about Rosa Parks ... and it sounds like it triggered the incident.
According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the arrested air traveler, Patricia Cornwall, a realtor and former NFL cheerleader, was returning from the restroom at the back of the plane when she encountered a flight attendant working the beverage cart, blocking the aisle.
Cornwall allegedly asked the flight attendant for help finding her seat and was told to find an open seat until beverage service was over, because it was a short flight.