Southwest Airlines pilot sentenced for watching porn mid-flight, committing lewd act abcnews.go.com

A Southwest Airlines pilot was sentenced on Friday after he pleaded guilty to committing “a lewd, indecent, or obscene act” mid-flight while he was the pilot in command on Aug. 10 2020 flight from Philadelphia to Orlando.

Michael Haak, 60, of Longwood, Florida, was sentenced to at least one year of probation and ordered to pay $5,000 fine.

“It began as a consensual prank between me and the opposite pilot. I by no means imagined it will flip into this in a thousand years,” Haak said as he apologized before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson during the virtual hearing.

Federal prosecutors said that when the aircraft reached cruising altitude, Haak got out of the pilot’s seat and “disrobed” and started watching porn on a laptop computer pc within the cockpit.

“As the plane continued its flight, Haak further engaged in inappropriate conduct in the cockpit as the First Officer continued to perform her duties as an assigned aircrew member,” federal prosecutors in Maryland said.

Haak admitted to removing his clothes in the cockpit of the plane — exposing himself to the female first officer.

According to Haak’s plea agreement, he had never met the female officer prior to the flight.

Southwest spokesperson Chris Mainz said that the airline “doesn’t tolerate habits of this nature and can take immediate motion if such conduct is substantiated.”

“Nonetheless, Southwest did examine the matter and because of this, ceased paying Mr. Haak any advantages he was entitled to obtain on account of his separation from (the airline),” Mainz stated in an announcement.

Assistant U.S. Legal professional Michael Cunningham blasted the pilot, saying that he “had an obligation to comport himself in a way more accountable method.”

“This isn’t the form of aberrant habits that anybody ought to settle for,” the prosecutor added.

Haak’s attorney, Michael Salnick, had stated in a courtroom submitting that Haak accepts duty for his habits and “gives no excuses,” but argued that his client deserves a lenient sentence given his “lifetime of arduous work and kindness.”

“The embarrassment and ensuing publicity of this incident has in and of itself been humbling to Michael Haak and has served as punishment in some ways,” he wrote.

Haak left the airline before the company was made aware of the incident, according to the report.

Report Story