Southwest Airlines B-738 'Secret Lavatory Cameras' Lawsuit
This appears to be a variation of one of the old lavatory privacy pranks that pilots would play on flight attendants. Years ago on the 727 a gullible stewardess would be called to the cockpit. After some conversation the captain would have the FE 'check' to see if the forward lav was unoccupied so he could go back. The FE would open some panel (was it fuel dump?) on the aft cockpit bulkhead and pretend to look into the lav to verify that it was available. 'Not many people know about this' etc. and the word would quickly spread among the cabin crew.
In this iPad version of the lav prank one of the pilots records a clip of himself/herself in the lav and later plays it when they go back for the flight attendant in the cockpit to see.
Southwest pilots accused by flight attendant of streaming plane bathroom video to cockpit
October 26, 2019 / 8:44 AM / CBS News
A Southwest Airlines flight attendant alleges in a lawsuit that two pilots streamed airplane bathroom video to the cockpit in February 2017. CBS affiliate KPHO-TV reports that Renee Steinaker said she was working on a flight from Phoenix to Pittsburgh when she went into the cockpit and noticed an iPad mounted to the windshield, live streaming from one of the plane's lavatories.
KPHO-TV reports that according to the lawsuit, about two and a half hours into the flight, the pilot, Terry Graham, asked Steinaker to sit in the cockpit while he used the restroom since protocol states that two people must be in the cockpit at all times. Once inside, Steinaker noticed the iPad that she said was live streaming video from the lavatory, where Graham now was.
In her lawsuit, she says the co-pilot, Ryan Russell, told her "there was a camera in the lavatory and that it was hidden so no one would ever find it." He also allegedly told her not to tell anyone because it was on the "downlow (sic)."
Russell allegedly said "the cameras were new and they were on all of Southwest Airlines 737-800" planes but Steinaker didn't believe him.
Steinaker said she took a photo of the iPad and then reported the incident to Southwest Airlines. However, according to court documents, Graham and Russell were never disciplined.
According to KPHO, court papers indicate that Steinaker and other flight attendants were told to keep quiet about what they saw. Steinaker was allegedly warned, "if this got out, if this went public, no one, I mean no one, would ever fly our airline again."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/southwest-airlines-pilots-accused-by-flight-attendant-of-streaming-plane-bathroom-video-to-cockpit/
Of course, there really are some folks who put cameras in the lav and get caught:
Passenger who installed perv-cam in airplane bathroom pleads guiltyA twisted passenger who placed a hidden camera inside the first-class lavatory of a United Airlines flight from California to Texas pleaded guilty this week and could be deported, authorities said.
Choon Ping Lee, a Malaysian national, was ordered to pay a $6,000 fine and will spend two months behind bars on video voyeurism charges.
Federal prosecutors said a fellow passenger found the device during the May 5 flight from San Diego to Houston. She saw “a strange object with a blue blinking light” hanging by the door and then warned flight attendants, who confirmed it was a camera, according to a news release.
Authorities investigated and noticed Lee’s clothing in the recorded footage as he was installing the device. Airport surveillance videos confirmed the outfit matched what he was wearing that day.
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/cri...outputType=amp