Daniel Michael Drinan Arrested at Denver International Airport after Watching Porn on Flight

Huffington Post
September 10, 2012

www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/10/daniel-michael-drinan-arr_n_1872244.html

FILE-In this Thursday, March 22, 2012, file photo, a Southwest Airlines flight prepares to land at McCarran International Airport, in Las Vegas. Rising fares are helping Southwest Airlines Co. more than offset the high cost of jet fuel. The airline said Thursday, July 19, 2012, that second-quarter profit soared 42 percent on record revenue.

A Nevada passenger was arrested Saturday night at Denver International Airport after he was caught by another passenger viewing pornography in-flight and touching himself.

According to a U.S. Attorney's Office media release, Daniel Michael Drinan, 63, of Reno, Nevada was on Southwest Airlines Flight 1998 en route to DIA from Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI). While in flight, Drinan used the airline's WiFi internet service to view pornography and allegedly touched himself in full view of other passengers.

A woman sitting nearby noticed Drinan touching himself and waited to alert someone, hopeful that he would stop but ultimately had to alert a flight attendant.

The male flight attendant told Drinan to "put his pants back together," and later told prosecutors that Drinan's genitalia had been totally exposed.

"Investigators were told that at some points during the conduct that Drinan was trying to use his laptop to conceal his behavior," according to the release.

Chris Mainz, spokesman for Southwest Airlines told the Denver Post that Southwest does have some filter restrictions in place for what is viewable through the airline's WiFi but that filters by themselves are always a guarantee.

"That sort of technology, however, isn't always foolproof. It's hard to know if it was through the WiFi or perhaps he had something downloaded on his computer."