American Airlines walks back claim that 9-year-old passenger ‘should have known’ she was being recorded in bathroom

American Airlines is walking back its previous assertion that a 9-year-old girl who was allegedly filmed in a plane bathroom “should have known” the toilet contained a recording device.

The claim came in response to a civil lawsuit against the company and one of its flight attendants, who is now suspected of recording five girls secretly in airplane bathrooms. The allegations came to light following an incident involving a 14-year-old girl on a flight into Boston’s Logan Airport last summer.

However, on Wednesday morning, American Airlines reversed its position, saying the company found an error in the filing made by its outside legal counsel. American Airlines says that this defense does not represent its stance and has directed that it be amended. 

“We do not believe this child is at fault and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously,” American Airlines said in a statement sent to Boston.com. “Our core mission is to care for people — and the foundation of that is the safety and security of our customers and team.” 

But Paul Llewellyn, an attorney representing the 9-year-old girl and the 14-year-old girl, told Boston.com that American Airlines has never contacted either family during the year since it happened. 

“We put this trust and faith into the airlines and this terrible event happened,” said Llewellyn. “Instead of doing something about it, they put out a PR boilerplate with meaningless statements. Actions speak louder than words. Do something about it.” 

Estes Carter Thompson III, of North Carolina, was indicted last month in connection with the incident that happened on the Boston flight last summer. 

According to court documents, federal prosecutors say that Thompson attempted to video-record a 14-year-old girl with a cell phone while she was using the restroom onboard an American Airlines flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston. 

As a result of the investigation, prosecutors say they found videos of four more girls using aircraft lavatories on Thompson’s iCloud account between January and August of 2023.  

According to court documents, the girls were 7, 9, 11, and 14 years old. 

The family of the 9-year-old girl, who was allegedly recorded during a January 2023 flight from Austin, Texas, to Los Angeles, also filed a civil lawsuit against Thompson and American Airlines. 

In court documents, federal prosecutors allege that Thompson was working on the aircraft when a video of the girl using the restroom was created. The video shows that the iPhone was positioned above the toilet seat against the upright lid, similar to what happened with the 14-year-old teen. 

In the Texas court filing response, American Airlines’ lawyers argued that the girl who used the bathroom should have noticed that it “contained a visible and illuminated recording device.” 

“For American Airlines to say, ‘It’s your fault, you should have known you were being filmed,’ is outrageous,” said Llewellyn. “It’s outrageous.”

Llewellyn said the family members were outraged and angry when they saw the airline’s response. 

Llewellyn said it has been a struggle for the girls, and that the incidents have profoundly impacted them. 

The biggest concern, Llewellyn said, is that no one knows what happened to these images, which could have gone out on the dark web. 

“These girls will have this hanging over them for the rest of their lives,” Llewellyn said. 

American Airlines’ court filing also argues that the airline is not responsible for intentional acts or crimes committed by its employees, such as Thompson’s. 

At Thompson’s arraignment Monday at the Moakley U.S. Courthouse in Boston, he pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of images of child sexual abuse depicting a prepubescent minor, according to court documents. 

He is scheduled to return to court on July 1.