Absolutely Appalling Report in the Washington Post

[Ivor_Bigunn]

I spotted this disgusting report in the Washingto Post today.

Look, if the Mods think that this is not a suitable story for PPrune, then please just delete my post.

Here is the link (maybe behind paywall):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2023/12/01/american-airlines-bathroom-camera-lawsuit/

This is the gist of the story:

"The parents of a 14-year-old girl are suing American Airlines after they say a male flight attendant hid his cellphone to secretly film their daughter in the bathroom aboard a flight in September from Charlotte to Boston.
During the Sept. 2 flight, the lawsuit alleges that a flight attendant used tape to affix an iPhone to the toilet lid and started recording right before the North Carolina teen entered the restroom.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina on Friday, says the airline “knew or should have known the flight attendant was a danger.” Other crew members failed to confiscate the employee’s phone after the girl complained about the incident, the complaint stated, which allowed him time to destroy the alleged evidence.
The alleged incident occurred midflight as the teen and her family traveled to visit her brother in Boston. While she waited to use the restroom in economy class, the unnamed flight attendant approached her and told her to use the bathroom at the front of the plane in first class, the complaint stated.
After leading her there, the flight attendant allegedly entered the restroom before the teen and told her he needed to wash his hands before trash collection began. About a minute later, he exited the restroom and, according to the complaint, told the girl, “The toilet seat in there is broken. But don’t worry about it. We’re going to get it fixed when we get back to Charlotte.”

The girl saw the toilet lid had red tape with the words “SEAT BROKEN” written on it, according to the complaint. She locked the door and used the restroom. But when she tried to flush the toilet she said she found a phone hidden beneath the tape with its camera flash turned on.

The plaintiff, identified as only Jane Doe, “was shocked and scared,” the complaint stated. “It immediately occurred to her that someone had put the phone there to film her using the toilet.” She then took a photo with her own phone of the alleged setup.

Once she left the restroom, the flight attendant went back in, locked the door and the girl returned to her seat where she informed her parents of what happened.

The teen’s father insisted on seeing the male flight attendant’s phone. The lawsuit says the father witnessed the flight attendant “tapping furiously” on his device’s screen before eventually handing it over. The father did not see any suspicious or questionable videos or photos, the complaint stated."

And here is a photo provided by the victims lawyer:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/916x611/toilet_32858bcb044647154b1bcd545ec03b697bfc9bd6.jpg


Well, if true, this is new low in human behaviour. The girl was 14 years old!!

My immediate reaction was that the story must be made-up. After all, the camera's bright light is on, and the camera is positioned to film an extreme close-up of the users back, when sitting on the throne. (OK, before/after might be different). And what are the chances of going undetected?

But it does seem as if something happened. It seems to be confirmed that the flight attendant was in the toilet just before the young girl. And he handed over his mobile phone for examination, whereas he could have flat-out refused if he was completely innocent. And the FBI are investigating, although they have said nothing yet, apparently. And there is the (absurd) photo.

Any thoughts?

If you reply to this post, please maintain the classy standards for which PPrune is justly admired.

IB

[TURIN]

That wouldn't fool anyone, let alone a 14 year old girl. It's obvious it's a phone.

I smell a rat.

[KRviator]

I call (possible) bull****.

Granted I've only owned Samsung's for the last decade - but with these, you cannot have the "camera flash" LED permanently on. It'll come on to focus, then turn off until you press the shutter button when it'll "flash". Not stay on. If I turn the "torch" on manually, the LED naturally illuminates, but turns itself off immediately you select the camera app, so you can't even have the LED on to illuminate the subject of a video you're shooting and then tape it to the dunny lid. Try it with your own phone and see what happens - I'd be very surprised if Apple is different, though they always have been a bit special...

The tape holding it looks like role equipment, but probably not that hard to swipe if she wanted to frame someone and go for a payout.

Something doesn't ring true with this as reported.

EDIT: After a bit more playing around, it turns out you can use the flash LED to illuminate your target when in video mode, at least, on my Samsung S20, but you need to be in the Camera app's video mode and turn it on from there. So in that regard, Apple may well be similar and ol' mate tried to film said teen dropping her pants and backing up to the seat pan. I still can't accept anyone missing a bright LED coming from the dunny seat, but I do have to admit I was wrong about the impossibility of actually being able to do it with a phone.

[SASless]

In Criminal Court one has to meet a higher standard of proof than one does in Civil Court.

The FBI conducted an investigation, claimed it could find no photos or video on the phone that pertained to the complaint.

Which is not surprising if the Flight Attendant has time to delete all photos and video.

I would think the normal reaction of a perp given the circumstances would be to do that but a cell phone with no photos or video on it would be a very large Red Flag to me as an investigator.

One thing for sure....American has ample reason to question employing that Flight Attendant.

The other thing that stood out is the alleged statement by the Attendant that he needed to wash his hands BEFORE collecting the trash.....usually one might do that after collecting the trash.

Why would a Flight Attendant "lead" a Fourteen Year old Girl to the Dunny on and airplane and insist on going in before her?

From what has been. made public I am not sure who is the Rat.

[Zombywoof]

a cell phone with no photos or video on it would be a very large Red Flag to me as an investigator.Why? There are no photos or videos on my phone. Indeed, I have never used the camera, and wouldn't care if the phone didn't have one. I have a real SLR if I need to take pictures. It disturbs me to think a cop might think my phone is suspicious.

[SASless]

You were not accused of a crime involving a cell phone being used in the commission of a crime......why would a Police Officer be remotely interested in your cell phone to begin with?

What you do with your cell phone is irrelevant to the issue being discussed.

[MechEngr]

Civil asset forfeiture. No need to accuse of a crime.

[Zombywoof]

I'm not talking about the incident on the plane, I'm talking about your blanket "red flag" statement. As an investigator, you would know that examining someone's phone and finding it devoid of photos or videos indicates.... nothing. WRT the specific case under discussion, you may strongly suspect material has been recently deleted, but you still have nothing but a red flag. Because maybe you're dealing with someone who uses his phone the same way I use mine.

ADDENDUM: In my country we had a couple of cases that drew attention nationwide where people were wrongfully convicted, spent most of their lives in jail, only to be exonerated and released. Every Canadian of a certain age knows the names involved. In these cases the police had "tunnel vision" and focused exclusively on the individuals. These were not rookies, they were seasoned detectives with years of investigative experience. They had some "red flags", and they followed their intincts with disastrous consequences.

This is why I was triggered by your statement, and I'll not comment further.