A man is facing federal charges and has been banned by Southwest Airlines for his actions on a flight this past weekend. This is one of the wildest bad passenger behavior stores I’ve seen in a long time, and the man doesn’t even deny what happened, just that he thought it was “kind of kinky” and that his seatmate didn’t mind.
In this post:
Southwest passenger exposes himself to seatmate
This incident involves Southwest Airlines flight 3814 from Seattle (SEA) to Phoenix (PHX) on Saturday, April 2, 2022. Everything that allegedly happened is outlined in a criminal complaint, written by a veteran FBI special agent. I’m just going to directly quote the complaint, because wow:
McGarity exposed his penis and masturbated while in view of the female passenger seated next to him. McGarity was seated in seat 11F and his female witness was seated in seat 11E. Shortly after takeoff, and while the aircraft was in the air, McGarity exposed his penis by pulling down his pants and shorts and began masturbating. The female witness captured pictures of McGarity with his hand on his erect penis, which I reviewed during the course of my investigation. At some point during the flight, McGarity fell asleep and the female witness got up and advised the flight crew about the incident. She was moved to another seat on the aircraft.
After Southwest Airlines Flight 3814 landed in Phoenix, Arizona, the female witness sitting next to McGarity was interviewed by Phoenix Police Officers. She advised McGarity exposed his penis by pulling down his pants and shorts and proceeded to masturbate during the first hour of the flight, starting shortly after takeoff. McGarity masturbated with his exposed penis in view of the female passenger on four separate occasions, using both his left and right hands. She suspected that McGarity ejaculated because he licked a white substance from his fingers.
The Southwest passenger’s defense
The man who is facing the criminal complaint more or less admits everything, including that he had an orgasm. His only defense is that he didn’t think his female seatmate minded:
McGarity admitted to law enforcement that he had masturbated during his flight from Seattle, Washington, to Phoenix, Arizona, and that he had an orgasm. McGarity knew the female witness sitting next to him was aware he was masturbating and could see his exposed penis. McGarity was aware that the female witness sitting next to him used her telephone camera to capture McGarity masturbating. McGarity advised he asked the female witness if she minded if he masturbates. According to McGarity, the female witness put her hands in the air and said “It really doesn’t matter.” McGarity said he thought it was kind of kinky. McGarity did not think the female witness was uncomfortable with him masturbating.
Southwest Airlines bans passenger for life
In a statement, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson clarified that McGarity was placed on the carrier’s no-fly list as soon as the company learned about his behavior, resulting in a lifetime flight ban. That punishment probably pales in comparison to the criminal charges that he faces, as he could spend up to 90 days in jail, and could be fined up to $500.
Bottom line
There are lots of stories about people misbehaving on planes, but this has to be one of the most disturbing in a while. A Southwest Airlines passenger masturbated repeatedly in front of his seatmate, and thought it was “kind of kinky.” In this case he even admits all of this happened, he just assumed that his seatmate didn’t mind.
Hopefully this traveler can get the help he needs…
He is probably Swedish :):):). https://www.thelocal.se/20130912/50214/
Perhaps Mr. McGarity is a student pilot and needed the stick time…
It's good to see Louis C.K. getting back out there.
Can we see the video clips please????
Why are these people never seated next to me? :(
Well said, I hope the people that are continuing to fly for absolutely unnecessary reasons during a freaking worldwide plandemic also get the help that they need.
I was a cabin manager/flight attendant for EZY.I had a very similar incident on BSL-LPL a number of years ago.
Awful to deal at the time and eventually went to court.
Another emotional support animal brought out of its cage on the airplane.
The fine could actually be up to $5000, given how the statutes in question interact with 18 USC 3559 and 3571.
This McGarrity guy is using a variation of the O.J. Simpson defense: "If she don't mind, it must not be a crime!"
I remember my first beer.
What could he do on a transatlantic flight?
According to testimonies, fall asleep longer.
Can't spell WaNk without WN! XD
What if the other passenger was his wife and agreed to it?
What if nobody else saw it except the wife?
What if all of the above and a blanket was used to cover the genitalia?
Still, very weird. It's weird even if the woman passenger lied and said it doesn't matter to her.
What if a woman was fondling her own breasts under her clothes? Illegal?
Very odd comment.
Women have genitals too, you realize, yes?
@derek
You drive over the speed limit, no cops, no cameras.
Speeding is now legal?
And lastly, each state law is different consult a lawyer before fondling your own breasts under your clothes.
derek, do you know what a spell check pain it is to type your name with a small d? Is that why you do it, to annoy people at first glance?
Anyway, she didn't lie. She knew crazy man was going to do what he wanted, so her response was appropriate.
All your other suppositories? Rabbit holes.
Please avoid.....
Why did I start giggling at this - "Shortly after takeoff, and while the aircraft was in the air..." Yup, all kinds of puns in this article.
Banned from Southwest, but welcomed by Spirit!!
Wanna get away?
Or they should change it to... "Wanna get off?"... Hahahha
good one!
Remarkable stamina, and a remarkably composed seat neighbor.
Kudos all around!
I'm just surprised that Jeffrey Toobin flies Southwest.
Had to Google that one.....
He did apologize to his wife. LOL!
The flight should have diverted. This moron taken off, charged, thrown in jail pending an arraignment and charged for the cost of diversion. The only "help" he needs is a couple of years in a prison.
As far as the types of articles. Ben like any other blogger lives by clicks. It's a financial necessity-unless he wants to self fund his blog. Salacious stories get clicks.
I agree with George that the flight should have been diverted during this nonviolent incident, thereby mucking up the travel plans for a couple hundred people and costing the airline thousands of dollars to deal with the operational disruption.
I further agree that we, the taxpayers, should fork over tens of thousands of dollars to cover the costs of putting this offender in a cage for a couple years.
All this seems proportional and wise to me. I am very smart.
Anyone doing that in flight needs to go immediately. They are a danger to the entire plane. And yes they need to go to jail although you seem to think criminals should not be responsible for their acts.
Dang, George, why the hostility? I'm agreeing with you that it would be very cool and good if lots more people had suffered negative consequences for this individual's actions. And I also agree with you 100% that he quite obviously posed a danger to the entire plane, even though we can observe how events actually played out and see that the safety of the flight was never actually jeopardized.
Yes, every airline pilot needs to adhere to the newest DFAR regulation.
DFAR mandates that pilots must Divert For Any Reason.
A semen gone wrong, DFAR.
A 4 year old child holding a Twizzler saying kaboom, DFAR.
A drug junkie with a tickling feathers, DFAR.
A flight attendant refusing to wear masks, DYKWIA.
A passenger refusing to wear masks, DFAR.
An infant that can't stop crying, DFAR.
An...
Yes, every airline pilot needs to adhere to the newest DFAR regulation.
DFAR mandates that pilots must Divert For Any Reason.
A semen gone wrong, DFAR.
A 4 year old child holding a Twizzler saying kaboom, DFAR.
A drug junkie with a tickling feathers, DFAR.
A flight attendant refusing to wear masks, DYKWIA.
A passenger refusing to wear masks, DFAR.
An infant that can't stop crying, DFAR.
An adopted infant mistaken as human traffic, DYKWIA.
DYKWIA must enforce DFAR at all times.
Stay authoritarian, stay unionized. Peace!!
Hey, it happened on a plane, it's relevant.
Get over yourself.....
Sounds like he only did it once.
That guy was caught in a very sticky situation
Badda Bing!
Even more sick: You're choosing to write about it
Calm down precious.
It’s called news.
Efficient recycling of nutrients given WN’s lack of meal service. I wonder if they do something similar on the ISS.
no. They just recycle urine.
Was he at least wearing a mask?!
As a longtime daily reader, while I don't mind that you report on this, I'd appreciate it if you didn't use NSFW headlines as I usually read the blog at work on my work computer during lunch.
(sorry, the above wasn't intended to be in response to Ryan; it was a general comment)
Stop using your work computer for personal gain, you thief!
This is a travel-related story and thus, belongs on this blog. I heard about his story on the radio so it's not like this story isn't on other platforms. Lucky does a very good job of posting relevant and useful items. Keep up the great work!!
To be fair to John T, in the last 4 posts you have reported 4 incidents of man-penis touching, including both right and left handed. That averages out to one penis touch per post for all recent posts.
And stuff.
Haha - that's funny. Good point.
You have become the TMZ of travel blogs.
@ John T -- I've gone back to my 40 most recent posts (and then got bored), and didn't find a single post that could even remotely be considered TMZ-esque, aside from this one (if that's how you'd like to view it). So I'm curious, do we have different takes on what it means to be "the TMZ of travel blogs," or are you suggesting that under 2.5% of my content dictates what my blog has "become?"
Some people just like to complain. I mean if all the post were TMZ esque, sure, but if its one, you can ignore it. I like the variety.
John T- you must not read a lot of travel blogs as I think View from the Wing is more like "TMZ of travel blogs". Anyways, there are a lot of sick nuts out there, heaven help us all.
It used to be Brian Kelly who was TMZ of travel blogs until he cash out and become the QVC and HSN of travel blogs.
Yet you read the title, open, betting here you read the article, click on comment, and post. So based on this chain of events, how is Harvey and the gang doing nowadays since I am not in the states.
Apparently, not being reported by the media, is the fact this person is a Republican congressman from Idaho.
I’ve searched for Idaho Congressman Antonio McGarity and nothing appeared- so either he is a ghost Congressman or you’re spreading inaccurate information.
I’ve not been able to confirm your allegation. “Antonio S. McGarity Republican” only shows the news surrounding his arrest. Not so much a wiki page for a congrssman — state or federal — which is odd
Your claim is not accurate. If you did a a quick google search of his full name (Antonio Sherrodd McGarity) you would know that he is not a Republican congressman from Idaho.
Your post should be removed since it is not accurate or factual.
Efficient recycling of nutrients given WN’s lack of meal service. I wonder if they do something similar on the ISS.
was that your “meal service” growing up?