A Southwest passenger lodged a formal complaint with the airline after receiving explicit photos from a man she believes to be an off-duty pilot for the airline.
Elizabeth Huffman, 27, told Insider that she and her sister were traveling home to Dallas after visiting their mother in Washington. The pair had a layover in Las Vegas, which is when she started receiving AirDrop notifications.
Huffman says that she was AirDropped a penis picture shortly after boarding the flight. She said that she’s been sent random pictures in public before, so she didn’t think it would be anything explicit.
She then declined multiple requests from the same person over several minutes. When the person wouldn’t stop bombarding her with requests, she relented and opened the pic.
“As soon as I declined it, they tried again,” she told the outlet. “Four or five times. At that point, I was just like, oh my god, what is going on? And so I opened it.”
This time, the picture was not explicit, and her sister also received the photo. But minutes later, she received a graphic video. Huffman and her sister alerted a flight attendant to what transpired and shared the perpetrator’s name.
Huffman said the flight attendants made an announcement asking the man to come forward, but he didn’t. The flight was delayed until the person was identified and escorted off the plane.
A horrified flight attendant informed Huffman that the man AirDropping the photos was an off-duty pilot for the airline. She filed a complaint with the airline.
Southwest confirmed to Insider that an investigation was ongoing but declined to comment if the man was an employee.
“We are aware of the claim and absolutely do not condone this type of behavior,’ the airline said in a statement. “We are conducting an internal investigation and will take appropriate action pending the outcome of our findings.”
