Ja Rule is setting the record straight after he and Tony Yayo turned a routine cross country flight into a tense mid air showdown that was captured on video.

Check out Ja’s tweets about the ordeal after TMZ contacted him for comment — he said he “popped on these punks” and threw a pillow at Yayo’s head because he’s “soft.” He had no regrets about the snafu … calling it “hilarious.”

TMZ obtained exclusive video capturing the heated verbal dispute aboard a Delta flight from San Francisco to New York City Sunday morning, where things boiled over between the two guys shortly after boarding.

Ja Rule was yelling profanities, repeatedly saying he wanted to fight, and at one point threw a pillow back toward Tony, we’re told.

That’s when the flight crew stepped in. Witnesses on the plane tell us both men were pulled off the plane briefly while the situation was addressed. During the confrontation, Tony yelled back that airplanes are “federal offense territory” and insisted he hadn’t done anything wrong.

A Delta spokesperson tells TMZ … two customers were spoken to by the cabin crew following a disagreement, and one customer was rebooked on a later flight. The spokesperson added the flight continued to JFK and landed without issue.

It’s still unclear which rapper was rebooked but one thing’s clear, tensions were flying long before the plane ever took off.