'Quit Sending Naked Pictures': Pilot Threatens to Cancel Flight After Passenger AirDrops NSFW Photos to Strangers A Southwest Airlines pilot almost stopped a flight to Mexico after nude photos were being circulated to passengers.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
There are pretty standard rules when preparing to take off — stow away large electronics and bags, turn your phone to airplane mode, fasten your seatbelt.
You'd think "don't send nude photos to other passengers while waiting on the runway" wouldn't need to be verbally expressed as part of the pre-flight precautions.
In a viral video that has been viewed over 2.6 million times, passenger Teighlor Marsalis documented what occurred on a Southwest Airlines flight headed for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, when one unruly passenger started Airdropping nude photos to strangers on the plane.
Through Airdrop, users on iOS devices can share files like photos, recordings, documents, and music via wireless connection from one device to the other as long as they are within a certain range of close proximity to one another.
On each device, there is an option to allow Airdrops to be received by no one, contacts only, or everyone — if the everyone option is selected, hypothetically, strangers within the Airdrop range can easily send whatever they want to the user with the option turned on.
This was precisely the case during the Southwest Airlines flight and the situation got so out of hand that, the pilot had to make a statement.
@teighmars @robloxsouthwestair takes airdropping nudes very seriously. #AEJeansSoundOn #WorldPrincessWeek ♬ original sound - Teighlor Marsalis
"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 this vacation is going to be ruined," the pilot can be heard saying over the intercom to passengers. "So folks, whatever that Airdrop thing is, quit sending naked pictures, and let's get yourself to Cabo."
Marsalis' video garnered a slew of comments from viewers who found the incident to be hysterical, many riffing on the pilot's "major dad vibes" and the way he sternly spoke to the passengers "like a parent."
"Technology sure has come a long way," one commenter lamented. "Society, not so much."
"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,'" another joked.
Southwest Airlines told the New York Post they are aware of the situation. The passenger in question has not been identified.
Entrepreneur reached out to Southwest for further comment.
"The safety, security and wellbeing of Customers and Employees is the Southwest Team's highest priority at all times," the airline said in a statement. "When made aware of a potential problem, our employees address issues to support the comfort of those traveling with us."
Southwest Airlines was down just over 25% year over year as of Wednesday morning.
