'Error' made in American Airlines filing over child filmed in airplane bathroom

AUSTIN (KAXN) — American Airlines said its legal counsel made an "error" in a filing that blamed a 9-year-old girl following an incident where a former employee secretly recorded her while using a plane bathroom.

The family of the victim filed a civil lawsuit in February against American Airlines and 36-year-old flight attendant Estes Thompson III.

In a filing this week, attorneys for the airline said the harm to her was caused by her "own fault and negligence" and by her using a bathroom "which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device."

An American Airlines spokesperson released a statement Wednesday morning, saying in part, "The included defense is not representative of our airline and we have directed it be amended this morning. We do not believe this child is at fault and we take allegations involving a former team member very seriously."

"Our core mission is to care for people — and the foundation of that is the safety and security of our customers and team."

The statement also notes that the filing was made by outside legal counsel retained by the airline's insurance company.

The incident came to light after Thompson was allegedly caught trying to record a 14-year-old female passenger in the airplane bathroom Sept. 2, 2023, on a flight to Boston. He pled not guilty to two counts in a Boston federal court.

Prosecutors allege Thompson had recordings of four other underage female passengers on his phone from planes he worked on previously.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.