Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways is launching an investigation into pictures that appear to show a pilot receiving oral sex from a flight attendant while in a commercial airplane cockpit.

Low quality photos of the act, featuring a woman in a red outfit not unlike those of Cathay Pacific’s flight attendants and a pilot, have circulated through Chinese media. According to some reports, the two are a couple.

“We are conducting a full investigation into the matter and there are some indications that the female shown in the photos may be a member of our cabin crew,” a Cathay spokeswoman told Agence France Presse. However, she added that, “There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that the act took place in-flight, and there are no reasons to believe that any safety breaches have occurred.”

The pilot, who is apparently not from Hong Kong, issued a legal letter to local paper Apple Daily saying the photos had been stolen from his personal computer and he had filed a police report.

According to GlobalPost, industry sources suspected the photos’ release was part of a malicious stunt to hurt the company.