The American Airlines flight attendant accused of secretly recording a 14-year-old girl on a flight to Boston was confronted on the plane by the girl’s “angry” father who “saw the color drain out of” the airline employee’s face.
The 36-year-old male flight attendant, Estes Carter Thompson III, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly secretly recording the girl using an aircraft bathroom last September. The North Carolina man also allegedly had recordings of four other girl passengers using airplane lavatories.
“We take these allegations very seriously,” American Airlines said in a statement. “They do not reflect our airline or our core mission of caring for people.
“We have been fully cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation, as there is nothing more important than the safety and security of our customers and team,” the airline added.
After the Sept. 2 incident on the flight to Boston Logan International Airport, Thompson was immediately withheld from American Airlines’ service. He hasn’t worked since.
According to the FBI Boston’s affidavit for the case, the 14-year-old girl during the flight from Charlotte to Boston had found a concealed iPhone in the first-class bathroom after she had partially undressed and used the toilet.
Before the girl went to the bathroom, she had been waiting to use the main cabin bathroom when Thompson told her that the first-class lavatory was unoccupied and that she could use it. Thompson also told her that before she could go in, he had to wash his hands. Also, he said the toilet seat was broken.
Then when the girl entered the bathroom, she saw red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which stated, “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT” and “REMOVE FROM SERVICE,” and “SEAT BROKEN” was hand-written in black ink on one of the stickers. Beneath the red stickers, Thompson had allegedly concealed his iPhone to record a video.
When the girl was done using the bathroom, she stood up, dressed, and turned to flush the toilet. When she turned, she noticed that an iPhone was protruding out from underneath the red stickers, and the flash of the iPhone was illuminated.
The girl took a photo of the concealed iPhone and told her parents what happened. The girl was reportedly “visibly shaking” when she told another flight attendant about the incident, according to the FBI affidavit.
The girl’s father later approached the three flight attendants, including Thompson, in the rear galley.
“Minor A’s father then engaged Thompson directly and demanded to see his phone,” reads the affidavit. “He saw the color drain out of Thompson’s face.
“Thompson responded that he did not know what Minor A’s father was talking about,” the affidavit continues. “Minor A’s father again demanded to see Thompson’s phone.”
Thompson then walked away quickly up the aisle, and accessed an overhead bin — removing his iPhone from his suitcase.
As Thompson walked back to the girl’s father, the flight attendant was scrolling through his phone.
“Finding Thompson’s actions highly suspicious, Minor A’s father rushed towards Thompson and grabbed the iPhone from his hands,” reads the affidavit. “Minor A’s father estimated that Thompson held the iPhone for approximately ten to fifteen seconds before the father grabbed it from him.”
Another flight attendant then looked through Thompson’s phone, but they were not able to determine what the images were.
“FA2 was nervous while she attempted to look at the photos because Minor A’s father was angry and she found it hard to navigate someone else’s phone,” reads the affidavit.
Upon the flight’s arrival in Boston, police reported that Thompson’s iPhone may have been restored to factory settings.
A search of Thompson’s iCloud account allegedly revealed four additional instances in which Thompson recorded a minor using the lavatory on an aircraft. The victims allegedly depicted in the surreptitious recordings were 7, 9, 11 and 14 years old.
