Family says daughter, 14, discovered phone taped to back of airplane's toilet seat

BOSTON (AP) — The family of a 14-year-old girl who allegedly discovered a phone taped to the back of a toilet seat on a recent flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston said they believe she was targeted by a member of the crew.

During the Sept. 2 American Airlines flight 1441, the girl was told by a male member of the crew to use the first-class bathroom. The crew member entered just before 14-year-old, told her the seat was broken but not to worry about it and then re-entered the bathroom after she left, her family said in a written statement.

After using 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 picture of this with her own phone before leaving the bathroom.

“These events have left our daughter — and entire family — shocked and profoundly disturbed,” the family wrote in a statement.

Paul Llewellyn, a lawyer representing the family, said they have not yet filed a lawsuit.

Law enforcement officers met the plane at the gate after it landed Sept. 2. Massachusetts State Police escorted a flight attendant off the flight.

State police later deferred to the FBI as the primary investigating agency because the episode happened in the air, where the FBI has jurisdiction.

An FBI spokesperson did not 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 officials at the airlines “take this matter very seriously and are fully cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation, as safety and security are our highest priorities.”