Video Shows Southwest Pilot Threatening to Turn Plane Around, Tells Passengers to "Quit Sending Naked Pictures"

A pilot flying a plane to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, had to get stern with passengers after one kept sending out unsolicited nudes to other passengers. The unruly passenger started sending the nudes before the plane had even taken off. When the person continued to send nudes after takeoff, the situation escalated: The pilot threatened to turn the plane around and get authorities involved if the bad behavior didn't stop immediately. "Whatever that AirDrop thing is — quit sending naked pictures, let's get yourself to Cabo," he warned. A video of the incident has already gone viral on TikTok. Here's what happened.

The incident started before the plane had even taken off, when a woman complained to flight crew about being AirDropped an unsolicited nude. Teighlor Marsalis, the passenger who took the video, says she also got an AirDrop request but refused it. According to Teighlor, the pilot handled the situation exactly as he should have. Keep reading to see the video.

The cyber flashing continued once the plane was airborne. Finally, the pilot had enough and threatened to take action. "So here's the deal," the pilot said over the intercom. "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 [your] vacation is going to be ruined. Whatever that AirDrop thing is — quit sending naked pictures, let's get yourself to Cabo."

Cyber flashing is exactly what it sounds like—unsolicited nudes are sent to unsuspecting victims using technology. It commonly happens in shared public spaces such as trains or buses due to the limited range for technology such as AirDrop to work. One way to prevent it is to change phone settings so that people have to request permission to send messages. Cyber flashing is already a criminal offense in the UK.

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

This is not the first time a passenger has pulled a stunt like this—a man was arrested in June 2022 for sharing nude photos with his fellow passengers on a Southwest flight.

Legislators are working on making cyber flashing a crime in every state. It is already considered a misdemeanor in Texas thanks to legislators teaming up with dating app Bumble in 2019 to make it a criminal offense. A new bill in California would give cyber flashing victims the right to sue the senders. "Just as individuals suffer sexual harassment and abuse in their physical, non-digital lives," Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry said when the California Assembly approved the bill, "there's a growing incidence of individuals being harassed by receiving unsolicited, sexually explicit images and videos including from people they do not know."

@teighmars @robloxsouthwestair takes airdropping nudes very seriously. #AEJeansSoundOn #WorldPrincessWeek ♬ original sound – Teighlor Marsalis