Naked pilot says he didn’t know people in Denver airport could see him in hotel window

A “fully nude” man was seen “exposing himself and his genitalia” by his hotel window, police said, but he says he didn’t know people could see inside his room.

The man, Capt. Andrew Collins, is a pilot with United Airlines, USA Today reported. He has flown with the airline for 22 years.

Now Collins, 54, faces an indecent exposure charge after he opened the window in his hotel room while naked, according to a probable cause statement obtained by McClatchy. The window in The Westin Hotel at Denver International Airport “overlooks the hotel plaza and (is) in full view of the public,” police wrote.

While “exposing himself” in front of the window, police said Collins “knowingly and wilfully” violated an indecent exposure law. That was at about 10:47 a.m. on Sept. 20.

“Some witnesses said I was dancing, gyrating and waving” from the 10th-floor room window, he said, according to the Denver Post. “I’m completely innocent. It’s really unfortunate that it happened at all.”

Collins did say that he was naked.

“We’re not disputing the fact that I was standing nude in front of the hotel window,” he said on Monday, according to the newspaper. He just didn’t know people from the airport terminal could see, he says.

When the incident was reported, Collins said he had gotten up late and was planning to take a shower after talking on his phone, the Denver Post reported.

“It was a beautiful morning and I opened the curtains to my window,” he said, according to the Post. “I couldn’t see the terminal.”

But people could see him, police say.

The hotel is adjacent to the Jeppesen Terminal at the airport, according to its website.

United Airlines spokeswoman Erin Benson said Collins was “removed from his duties pending an internal review,” USA Today reported. “We are cooperating with authorities on their investigation.”

This story was originally published November 20, 2018 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Naked pilot says he didn’t know people in Denver airport could see him in hotel window."