A man was kicked off a Southwest flight on Saturday after AirDropping an explicit photo of himself - allegedly of him receiving oral sex - to other passengers.
A disgusted fellow customer identified the man and pointed him out to cabin crew, posting a video of the culprit sitting in the row opposite and being confronted by staff to TikTok.
The man was on a Southwest flight from Detroit to Denver when he decided to send the lewd photo to several devices around him.
The practice, known as “cyberflashing”, is a growing issue around AirDrop technology, which enables smartphone users to send unsolicited files to strangers who are nearby.
“Meet Larry, who just airdropped a whole flight photos of his peepee,” unimpressed passenger Kenzie, who posts on TikTok as @DaddyStrange333, captioned the video.
“Thankfully I accepted it, saw who was sending it, and immediately started speaking up.
“Stay tuned for the police escort.”
The airline confirmed the incident but did not name the man involved.
In the video, the woman filming points to the man in the row opposite, saying, “This man is Airdropping inappropriate photos, I don’t think we should look at it.”
A female member of cabin crew asks the man, “Why are you doing that?”, to which he says he was, “Just having a little fun”.
The staff member can be heard saying, “That’s not fun for people - there are people that have children. It’s really inappropriate.”
Meanwhile, the filming passenger, Kenzie, interrupts to say, “It’s sexual harassment, mainly. Disgusting, it is assault.”
In a follow-up video, Kenzie says she and other passengers had received a file from a nearby iPad. She also says there were children sitting near the man, with one possibly as young as seven.
She adds that police arrived after the plane landed in Denver, and that she and other passengers were interviewed by FBI officers after disembarking.
A Southwest Airlines spokesperson told local media: “We can confirm this unfortunate incident occurred on a recent flight from Detroit to Denver.
“Our flight attendants immediately addressed the situation and the crew requested local law enforcement officers meet the flight upon arrival, which they did and subsequently apprehended the individual responsible.
“Southwest Airlines maintains zero tolerance for this obscene and unacceptable behavior, and we offer our sincere apologies to the other customers onboard.”
In a reply to one of her followers, Kenzie said: “He continued to pull the photo up several times. This is a person that wanted the attention, for sure.”
Flight attendant Delilah commented: “Always speak up. Us flight attendants WILL get involved and WILL place a call to ground to be met with police. Always.”
It is unclear whether Denver police have arrested or charged the man involved.
It’s not the first time an AirDrop has caused disruption to a flight: in July 2021, a United Airlines flight was evacuated after a teenager sent pictures of a toy gun to other passengers onboard.
Meanwhile in May, a flight was postponed in Israel after more than 150 passengers received an eerie photo of a plane crash, sent anonymously to their phones, while already in their seats.
As part of the Online Safety Bill, the UK is set to introduce a law to tackle cyberflashing, making it a punishable offence to send explicit photos to others, with a sentence of up to two years in jail.
Research by Professor Jessica Ringrose conducted in 2020 found that 76 percent of girls aged 12-18 had been sent unsolicited nude images of boys or men.
