Michael Haak, 60, pleaded guilty on Friday to the charge and admitted to watching porn and exposing himself to the female first officer mid-flight.
On August 10, 2020, after the plane reached cruising altitude, Haak, of Longwood, Florida,"got out of the pilot's seat, and while still in the cockpit of the plane, intentionally disrobed and viewed pornographic media on a laptop computer," according to federal prosecutors in Maryland.
The statement from the Department of Justice added that"Haak further engaged in inappropriate conduct in the cockpit" while the first officer continued her in-flight duties. He and the first officer had never met prior to the flight.A Southwest Airlines spokesperson said that Haak had left the airline before the incident was brought to the company's attention.
The incident is not the only challenge that Southwest Airlines has faced recently. On May 23, a Southwest flight attendant was struck in the face by a passenger, identified as Vyvianna Quinonez, 28, on a flight from Sacramento to San Diego.that the passenger was"repeatedly" ignoring standard in-flight procedures, such as tray tables and seatbelts,"and became verbally and physically abusive upon landing.
Video obtained by CBS News shows the moment a Southwest Airlines flight attendant was punched by a passenger after asking her to keep her seat belt fastened during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego Sunday.