A woman who was arrested on an American Airlines flight after lighting a cigarette, blaming somebody else then ranting about Obama can be revealed as a Penn State professor of sociology.

Dr Karen Halnon, 52, who wrote her PhD thesis on hysterical women, was arrested on board the plane for disorderly conduct as it sat on the tarmac at Miami International Airport on Saturday.

She was caught on camera lighting up shortly after the flight had landed - but stubbed it out and thrust the butt into a seat pocket when flight attendants came over.

She's an expert: Dr Karen Halnon, left in her police mugshot and right in a faculty photo, is an associate in sociology at a Penn State campus

She then pointed at the man in a seat next to her when challenged over her behavior - before launching into a pro-communist rant attacking the United States for applying economic sanctions on Venezuela.

According to NBC, police were called aboard the flight, which had come from Nicaragua, and tried to calm her down, but were met with the response: 'F*** you. This is not a democracy'.

She was arrested for disorderly conduct and jailed at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

A statement from Penn State on Tuesday confirmed that Halnon is a member of staff. It said: 'Penn State Abington is aware of Dr. Karen Halnon’s behavior this past weekend on a flight from Nicaragua and is looking into the matter.'

She teaches sociology at the school's Abington campus near Philadelphia, and has the rank of associate professor.

According to her faculty page she is an expert on capitalism, Latin America and mad women.

Smoking: Halnon is seen smoking on board the flight, in a video uploaded to Youtube and posted on Reddit

Wasn't me: When fellow flyers flagged down a flight attendant to complain about her unruly behavior, Halnon blamed someone else for smoking and went on a bizarre rant

Dr Halnon was award her PhD from Boston College in 1995 with a thesis about treatments for women and hysteria.

She has two published books, and more than 25 journal articles to her name.

In her political rant about the flight she explored her political beliefs, equating the United States's tough economic sanctions against Venezuela with a declaration of war.

She also cited Hugo Chavez as a 'hero' of hers, and allegedly said that Obama 'kills people on Tuesdays'.

She shouted: 'The United States has declared war on Venezuela. Venezuela has been declared a national security threat.'

'You're a national security threat,' a passenger remarked off camera.

'She's gangster' another passenger said laughing.

Flight attendants warned the woman that the police would be waiting for her once the plane landed if she didn't calm down, according to The Daily Dot.

So she yelled louder.

She ranted: 'Venezuela previously owned the oil in Venezuela. My great hero Hugo Chavez nationalized the oil supply so that people with all of the oil...not Exon Mobil would go away!'

Bizarrely, she shouted: 'The people own the oil.'

According to an eyewitness, the woman added that U.S. President Barack Obama 'kills people on Tuesdays.'

After another warning by a flight attendant the woman protested: 'I know already the [police are coming to take me off the aircraft.] But before I'm arrested I'm going to say my peace.

'They already say they are arresting me so I'm going to tell you more,' she told passengers while unbuckling her seat belt and standing up.

Her illegal deed was caught on camera by a flyer who then posted the video to YouTube and website Reddit.

The redditor, with the user name 'upside down dog,' alleged that he was on the same flight as the woman when he recorded her.

Calm down: A flight attendant, right, warned Halnon that the police would be waiting for her once the plane landed if she didn't calm down. They were

Rant: 'They already say they are arresting me so I'm going to tell you more,' she told passengers while unbuckling her seat belt and standing up.

He wrote: 'While the plane was waiting on the tarmac for the police to arrive, she leans over to me and asks for a cigarette.

'She pulls one out of her bag and lights up. This is the point where I pull eject and run to the back of the cabin. The police arrive after 20 minutes and escort her off the plane.

'She only had a single drink on the plane (however, others told me she was pounding them back pretty hard in the terminal and she also was on prescription painkillers).

'The irony is that this sociology professor is focused mainly on women’s hysteria. Due to this, Customs was closed just long enough that me and most others on that flight missed our connection.

Smoking has been strictly prohibited on almost all airlines since 1988.