Southwest pilot threatens to cancel flight after nude images sent to passengers

The pilot was filmed threatening to turn the plane around after a passenger sent nude pictures to others. Photo / Unsplash

A Southwest Airlines pilot threatened to turn a plane around after a passenger sent an explicit photograph to fellow fliers.

Several passengers received an unsolicited image while boarding a flight from Houston's William P. Hobby Airport, to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It was sent using Apple's AirDrop file transfer feature, which uses Bluetooth.

After becoming aware of the incident, the pilot said he would cancel takeoff if issues continued. This response was captured in a TikTok video that has been viewed more than 3 million times.

"So here's the deal, if this continues while we're on the ground I'm going to have to pull back to the gate, everybody's going to have to get off, we're going to have to get security involved and ... vacation is going to be ruined," the pilot was heard saying.

"So you folks, whatever that AirDrop thing is, quit sending naked pictures and let's get yourself to Cabo."

Teighlor Marsalis was on the plane at the time and filmed the pilot's response. When she and her friends boarded the plane, the recieved a notification to accept a file sent via AirDrop.

While Marsalis declined the notification, two other passengers accepted and showed her the photo of a nude man, who was on board the flight, she told CNN.

The image prompted one upset passenger to alert a flight attendant, who proceeded to tell the pilot.

According to Marsalis, the pilot handled things professionally while the flight attendant make sure everyone was okay. Just 10 minutes later, the crew began their safety briefing and they took off as planned.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, she said.

Almost 2000 people commented on the TikTok video. Many claimed the pilot sounded similar to a disgruntled parent.

"This feels like my mom turning around in the car to me and my twin sister 'IF YOU 2 DONT STOP I SWEAR TO GOD..'" one wrote.

"Don't make me turn this plane around" another added.

In response to the incident, Southwest Airlines said the team always did what they could to make passengers comfortable.

"The safety, security and wellbeing of customers and employees is the Southwest team's highest priority at all times. When made aware of a potential problem, our employees address issues to support the comfort of those traveling with us," they said in a statement.