A video of a plane passenger playing a game via an in-flight entertainment system unaware that his opponent was seated behind him and spying has gone viral on TikTok.
The clip was posted four days ago by TikTok user Jack (@jackyboy860) and had 19.6 million views at the time of writing.
The footage shows a person playing a game of Battleship on the screen of the in-flight entertainment system. The same game is shown on the screen of a man seated in a row ahead, just to the right of the other passenger.
A message overlaid on the clip reads: "This guy doesn't know I'm behind him." The footage later shows the screen of the passenger with a "Victory" message across it. The video then pans towards the opponent, who turns around to face the camera before the clip ends.
A stock image of a finger pointing at the television screen of a plane seat. A video of a passenger unaware that his in-flight game opponent is seated behind him has gone viral on TikTok.A stock image of a finger pointing at the television screen of a plane seat. A video of a passenger unaware that his in-flight game opponent is seated behind him has gone viral on TikTok.iStock / Getty Images PlusThe latest TikTok post comes as air travel continues to see strong growth following a downturn sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a July 2023 report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Globally, total passenger traffic was reported to now be at 96.1 percent of May 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels.
"Planes were full, with the average load factors reaching 81.8 percent," Willie Walsh, the IATA's director general, said in the report, and North American carriers led the pack at 86.3 percent.
The report found that traffic among North American carriers rose 31 percent in May 2023, compared with the figure reported for the same month in 2022.
"Capacity increased 23.2 percent, and the load factor rose 5.1 percentage points to 85.1 percent, highest among the regions," the report said.
In a report by Verified Market Research, a global research and consulting firm, the in-flight entertainment and connectivity market size was valued at $5.04 billion in 2021 and projected to reach $12.37 billion by 2030.
Several users on TikTok were amused by the latest viral clip, especially by the look on the game opponent's face before the video ends.
User summerwarwick simply wrote "@BobbyH. THE STARE," while kallieee said "@freyaa the look back."
User johnnyking wrote the opponent must have thought: "...are u serious right now bro."
Keelan said: "@jingqi that look was so scary."
GrumpyMushrooms noted: "@Sunnyside the way he looks back is crazyyy."
Gav wrote: "I think he knows you're behind him."
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
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