A criminal probe was launched into an American Airlines flight last weekend after a passenger reportedly claimed a hidden camera was placed in the bathroom.
The airline alerted authorities to a “potential criminal act” on Flight 1441 that took off from Charlotte, North Carolina, and landed in Boston Saturday morning, Massachusetts State Police said in a news release.
A first-class passenger, who did not want to share his name, told Boston 25 that he saw a teenage girl attempt to use the bathroom mid-air but was initially stopped by a male flight attendant.
The worker claimed he had to quickly wash his hands, the passenger said, who provided a copy of his boarding pass to the station to prove he was on the flight.
The girl used the restroom after the flight attendant left, he reportedly said.
Shortly after the girl was done, her mother came up to first class and spoke to another flyer.
“The mom stopped that passenger from going to the bathroom and said, ‘Wait, don’t go in there,’” the passenger told Boston 25.
Once the mother went back to her coach seat, the passenger asked the fellow traveler why she stopped her.
“That was who told me it was a camera in the bathroom,” the passenger told the station.
Police came aboard after the plane landed in Boston, and after a few officials checked the restroom, the male flight attendant was escorted off, the passenger said.
A Massachusetts state trooper told Charlotte-based WSOC that the incident involved a “juvenile, flight attendant, and a cellphone.”
The probe is being handled by the FBI because the alleged criminality happened while the plane was in the air, the Massachusetts State Police said.
Further information was not disclosed by authorities, though American Airlines told Boston 25 it takes the matter “very seriously.”
“And are fully cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation, as safety and security are our highest priorities,” the airline said.
This is not the first bizarre incident American Airlines has dealt with this summer.
Dallas resident Tiffany Gomas, known for her viral “not real” rant disrupted a flight in early July. She was later removed by airline staff, according to police documents.