A Southwest Airlines pilot threatened to turn the plane around and return to the departure gate after one of the passengers on board received nude photos via AirDrop and reported the incident to airline staff.
The pilot can be heard via this recording laying down the law:
"So here's the deal," the pilot said. "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," he continued.
Southwest Airlines said the safety, security, and wellbeing of customers and employees was its "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.
Cyberflashing, the practice of sending nude photos to unsuspecting strangers is apparently a thing. According to Pew Research, 53% of women and 37% of men ages 18-29 reported having been sent unsolicited obscene images.
And AirDropping threatening photos on planes is also apparently a thing. In March an Alaska Airlines flight was delayed when a ten-year old sent a threat to the plane.
Imagine that kid's surprise when he was escorted off with men holding sub-machine guns.
Another teen on a United Airlines flight sent a picture of an airsoft gun to people on board and was removed from the plane.
The question I keep asking myself through all of this is, who are these people that open AirDrop files from strangers? You people know you can block incoming files, right?
Smartphones give you the option to be undiscoverable and to say no to unsolicited files. You can even set your phone to only receive files from your contacts.
People are just too trusting, I guess, but I'm glad there are pilots like this one that just tell people to cut it out.
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