The parents of a teenage girl are horrified and outraged after they discovered a flight attendant had placed a hidden camera in the first-class bathroom to record their daughter during an American Airlines flight.
“This outrageous act should have never occurred and must never occur again,” said the family’s attorney, Paul Llewellyn, of Lewis & Llewellyn LLP.
According to the family’s account, the 14-year-old girl was flying from Charlotte, N.C. to Boston Logan International Airport on Sept. 2 when she wanted to use the bathroom. A male flight attendant told the girl she could use the bathroom in first-class for quicker access. When the girl entered the restroom, she noticed red tape on the toilet seat that read “Seat broken”. She then saw a phone attached to the tape, with its light on.
After she left the bathroom, the male flight attendant allegedly went right back into the restroom. The teen immediately told her mother what had happened, warning her not to use the bathroom. When the mother entered, the phone was gone.
The girl’s father showed the photo of the phone on the toilet seat to the flight attendant, who appeared visibly shaken. After the family informed the other flight attendants and the captain, law enforcement was called and they were the first off the plane. The teenager was shown a phone by the police who asked if she could confirm it was the same one she saw, which she did.
“My daughter is very angry and shocked that someone violated her privacy on the flight,” the father said.
The family is surprised that American Airlines has not reached out to them since the incident.
“I have no idea why they didn’t reach out to us,” the mother said. “That’s been very surprising to me.”
The FBI and Massachusetts State Police responded to the incident, but declined to comment any further. The family is now urging anyone who saw the incident to contact Llewellyn’s law office.
Parents say American Airlines flight attendant put hidden camera in bathroom to record daughter: 'Disgusting' https://t.co/2rPnMLwL7e pic.twitter.com/ckfnbk44MG
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“One of the things you shouldn’t have to worry about is that a member of the flight crew, who you’re legally obligated to follow their instructions, and who are trusted with your safety, that they’re going to target one of your kids and obtain child pornography on a plane,” the father said. “I mean, it’s just it blows your mind. I think it’s hard to imagine a more intimate violation of privacy than this. And I mean, I think it’s obvious what that setup was meant to film. And I think it’s just it’s disgusting.”