Newly released hidden camera footage that allegedly captured a 14-year-old girl using the bathroom on an American Airlines flight shows how an iPhone was taped to the toilet lid, her parents said Wednesday.
The distraught parents — who did not want to be identified because their daughter is a minor — told The Post that it didn’t immediately register that their daughter might have been targeted by a male flight attendant during the Sept. 2 trip from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston.
But they both firmly believed he was carrying out pervy exploits that they described as “disturbing.”
“I think he’s really angry, as we are, that something like this could happen,” his father said.
“I think there is a feeling of violation. I think as a teenage girl she was a bit embarrassed that something as intimate as going to the bathroom would be filmed in this way.”
Most of the iPhones appeared to be attached to the toilet lid in the first-class lavatory, according to photos taken by the teenager and provided by the family law team at Lewis & Llewellyn.
The red and white tape had “Catering Equipment Inoperative” and “Removed From Service” printed on it with a note written in marker that said “Broken Chair.” Only the top of the iPhone, which is upside down, isn’t covered with tape — and it appears that either the flashlight or the camera flash is on.
The family’s attorney provided The Post with a photo of their boarding pass, which matched American Airlines Flight 1441 that authorities previously confirmed was investigating.
A photo released by the family’s legal team shows where the iPhone was hidden behind tape on the toilet seat. Image supplied
The family said their daughter was originally waiting in line for a bathroom in the coach section of the plane when the male flight attendant approached her. He told her there was no line for the first-class restroom and took her there, her parents said.
After another passenger exited the bathroom, the attendant, believed to be in her early 30s, told the girl she needed to use the restroom immediately to wash her hands before taking the trash. When he left, the teenager went in and used the restroom. But when he blushed, he saw the iPhone and took a picture.
After he returned to his seat, the same flight attendant went back into the bathroom, his parents said.
The teenager immediately showed the photo to her mother, and it took her a few minutes to understand what she was seeing before her daughter showed her the iPhone.
“It’s something you’ve never considered before, and it’s very surprising,” his mother said.
American Airlines did not return an email seeking comment. EPA
The mother was afraid the thing was still being filmed in the bathroom so she ran to first class to warn the other passengers. He stops a woman from entering and explains the situation, but when the two check, the iPhone and the tape are gone.
The girl’s father then showed the photo to the four flight attendants including the male crew in the hope of getting an explanation.
“I remember seeing the flight attendant’s face go completely white,” the father said, noting they didn’t see the man for the rest of the flight after that.
A female flight attendant approached the family at one point to apologize and express disgust at the alleged incident, the family said.
Massachusetts State Police initially responded to the plane after it landed, though state troopers said federal authorities are now handling the case.
The FBI’s Boston field office and the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts declined to comment Wednesday.
No arrests have been announced in connection with the case.
Little information has been released about the case, with state authorities only telling Charlotte-based WSOC that the incident involved “a juvenile, a flight attendant and a cell phone.”
A first class passenger told Boston 25 about the alleged incident last week.
While the family was being interviewed by authorities after the flight, airline representatives confirmed to law enforcement that only the flight crew would have access to the red tape seen in the photo, the father said.
Police also brought an iPhone to the teenage girl, who confirmed it was the same phone she saw in the bathroom, the family said.
The family were the first passengers to be taken off the flight, and saw the allegedly creepy attendant escorted off the flight afterwards.
“I saw him, and he wouldn’t look back,” his father said.
Massachusetts State Police initially responded to the plane after it landed, although state troopers said federal authorities are now handling the case.REUTERS
One of the family’s lawyers said American Airlines had not contacted their client since the day of the incident.
“It is shocking that a sexual predator could so boldly prey on a minor while he was using the bathroom on a flight,” Paul T. Llewellyn, a partner at Lewis & Llewellyn, said in a statement.
“This outrageous act should never have happened and cannot happen again.”
American Airlines did not return an email seeking comment Wednesday but previously said it was taking the alleged incident seriously.
The parents said that while their daughter was one of the hardest to get to know, she was dealing with “a lot of different emotions” after the incident.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
