BOSTON — The family of a 14-year-old girl who allegedly discovered an iPhone stuck to the back of a toilet seat on a recent flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston said they believed that she had been targeted by a member of the crew.
On American Airlines Flight 1441 on September 2, a male crew member told the girl to use the first-class restroom. The crew member came in just before he was 14, told him the seat was broken but not to worry about it, then went back into the bathroom after he left, said his family said in a written statement.
After going to the toilet, the girl realized that a largely obscured iPhone had been affixed to the back of the toilet seat, apparently to record her. She took a photo of it with her own phone before leaving the bathroom.
“These events have left our daughter – and the entire family – shocked and deeply disturbed,” the family wrote in a statement.
Paul Llewellyn, a lawyer representing the family, said they have not yet filed a lawsuit.
Law enforcement greeted the plane at the gate after it landed. Massachusetts State Police escorted a flight attendant from the flight.
State police then turned to the FBI as the lead investigative agency because the episode occurred in the air, an area where the FBI has jurisdiction.
An FBI spokesperson had no comment at the time. An email to the FBI on Monday was not immediately returned.
American Airlines said in a statement after the incident that airline officials “take this matter very seriously and are fully cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation, as safety and security are our highest priorities.” .
nbcnews