American Airlines Flight Attendant Physically Detains Aviation Photographer Until He Showed Images

If they did this to me it would have been snag on them, since my phone instantly backs photos up to multiple services. And then I’d have anonymously published them as payback.

I guess you missed the part where he said he doesn’t take pictures of the crew unless he asks 1st.

That’s a stupid comment Andrew. My workplace doesn’t involve mass transit where the service experience is a matter of public interest.

Depending on the jurisdiction, I suppose this could be unlawful detention or false imprisonment, and then if they moved you without consent, a kidnapping. More likely than a criminal case though, they may have created a tort. I guess you’d have to consult with a lawyer to decide whether the photographer should make a claim. The employees are not law enforcement officers, and have no legal authority. Even the pilot’s authority is about the safe operation of the aircraft, not stopping someone on a jet way who is departing.

What about taking pictures of TSA feeling up your own spouse or children? Never mind. That would never happen.

Your phone is personal property and the drink servers have no right to ask to see your phone. They have no powers to detain or arrest. Talk to a Lawyer.

From what I understand it is illegal for you to take pictures/video without their consent. When I worked at the airport we were told for security reasons Noone is allowed to take pictures in or around the airport often had to stop them from doing that.

Wow, excusing this kind of behavior by airline staff with profane language Anita on public comments is not acceptable. Are you sure you aren’t referring to yourself? Anyway, stories like this one are why I haven’t flown in years. Airline staff believe that it’s ok to abuse passengers so this comes as no surprise that they also don’t respect your private property.

Back in 2008 when a little flight attendant’s ego got in her way, I decided I would never fly American Airlines again, and I never have. This story is another reason to show why I will not fly AA ever again.

Don’t give people thaw latitude to suspect you of any suspicious behavior with your phone on board an aircraft. Turn it off, stow it away, read a good book. What were you doing with your “picture taking” that gave them suspicion to detain you. They’ve invited you into their home…misbehave and you may not be invited back. Get a grip and don’t be so SELF-ENTITLED! Oh , I’m soooo sorry, I forgot…IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU!! Buh-Bye!!!

Do you ever stop to think that perhaps there is a very legitimate reason a person would not want their picture posted (location obvious)? You have obviously never had a stalker. It’s scary and very dangerous.

Wow! People are so angry!

It was 2010 and American Airlines. I was attempting to take photos through the window as we were taking off. The flight attendant harshly instructed me to put my camera away. I was buckled in and the camera bag was just out of reach, so placed the camera in my lap. She began yelling at me. I very calmly told her I wouldn’t take any photos. On the plane were Service Men who were reporting for deployment to Afghanistan. One officer asked for my camera and told the fight attendant that he was going to take photos for me. She never said a word to him.

This is a great idea. Thanks for sharing a way to thwart illegal search and annoy9ng seizure by annoying and obnoxious employees.

I can’t believe it is such a big deal to take pictures on a plane! As long as you are not directly taking someone’s picture that doesn’t want to be photographed, who cares? And yes, where I work we have clients taking pictures of us All The Time! We don’t physically take their phone away and delete the pictures! And it’s more of a private business where I work than in a plane in any given country.

I’ve been a photographer For 50 years. Since much of my work is street & city photography, I know what I can and cannot do. I carry pro gear, and & rarely use my iPhone for work related images.
First off, in the US, there are no restriction on photography in public spaces. But use common sense – no voyeur type photos. However, any aircraft is private property. You are allowed to make photos by following their rules & regs. If your friend was a savvy ‘pro’ he’d know to contact the airline press office to get clearance. If the pilot or chief purser says no photos other than snaps for your vacation, then no photos. I get the feeling all parties involved have short fuses. Lack of clear communication, crossed signals, etc.

Unless there’s a written policy that I’ve acknowledged, they’d have a difficult time getting my phone from me. I don’t in any way condone assaults against the FA. But is it right that they can surround, corner, intimidate and force you to hand over your personal items ? Would these same people do the same thing in a city park or restaurant if they suspected that their picture had been taken ? Would they let a passenger demand another passenger’s phone for the same reason ? No and no. Isn’t this abuse of authority ?

There is no legitimate reason not to take photos. Private companies make their profits out of their customers/clients.
What harm can come from a photo of either the inside/outside of an aircraft or it’s employees? There is no expectation of privacy when traveling. There are cameras all over airports and as for what the inside/outside of a plane looks like, can find them anywhere on their webpages, magazines, news media and articles.
I’m more concerned that their true reason is because they have something to hide. We all see many videos which show unprofessional behavior by their employees. Or the lack of common courtesy, poor quality service and even refusing to make things right with their passengers when they couldn’t deliver on a service to begin with.
Not to mention, their corporate incompetent members that are driven by greed and when times get difficult, they reach out to government to bail them out.

You were on a flight that departed from a US airport and arrived at a US airport. The flag of the carrier is irrelevant. (For those who said foreign aircrews might have different legal authorities.)

You are in a place of business while on a flight. Any restrictions on camera use should have a sign posted alerting people to the policy. If there is no sign, there is no policy. I guarantee that if you took a video of a passenger battering an FA, the crew would be grateful to get a copy. Like any other place of business that is open to the public, people have no expectation of privacy. If someone prefers not to be in your pictures or videos, they need to ask you not to include them.

Once you deplaned, you were no longer under the flight crew’s authority. Even in midflight, the crew cannot take control of your property. They can ask you to place it in your carry-on bag, but snatching it from you is illegal. Forcing you to move from point A to point B against your will is kidnapping or perhaps false imprisonment.

As someone else noted, my photos upload to two cloud services immediately while connected to the network or Wi-Fi. As soon as I take my phone out of airplane mode, the pictures (and any other work) upload.

If my refusing to give them access to my phone means they ban me from the airline, I will fly with another. However, I will make the C-suite spend at least 20 hours responding to my communications and BBB complaints. The police at the arrival airport will waste more of the crew’s time because I will swear out warrants for kidnapping, theft, destruction of property, battery, and whatever else I believe fits the bill.

Practice saying “No,” with a smile on your face. You can add color, “I did not leave anything, thank you.” Or, “I decided I could hold it until I could get to the restroom in the terminal.” Perhaps, “Sorry, my ears clog up, and I can barely hear you. Did you say you wanted to give me free flight vouchers? If so, please email those to me. Thanks,” and keep walking.

We encourage people to act in an unacceptable manner when we allow them to treat us that way. If some sheep wish to surrender their freedoms to a self-officious crew member, that is their right. My right is to abide by my policies. I printed them in 0.25-point font on the page where I entered my address on my receipt when I purchased the ticket. If they chose not to read the 600,000 characters, that is not my problem.

How would I like it if someone came into my place of business and took pictures that included me with my knowledge? How would I know since they did it without my knowledge? That is an inane question. If I am in a place where other people can be, I do not expect privacy. On the other hand, if you took pictures of what work I was doing, you would go to prison for unauthorized access to classified materials. I will let you know how I feel after your sentencing hearing. I suspect I will be smiling.

Be the shepherd, not the sheep.

Next time take Greyhound.

Have we become so bored that this is big news? Who really cares?

Robert, What if my workplace is a stadium? People who bought tickets to sit in a seat there shouldn’t take photos of my workplace? There may be legit reasons, but yours isn’t one of them.

Lexi, You’re feeding into the untrue stereotype that all flight attendants are on power trips and can do whatever they want to passengers, like confiscate their phones and delete any files they don’t like, as you state you have proudly done “multiple times.”? As a global million miler on AA, Delta, UA, etc. all FAs are NOT nasty to customers in the manner you claim you were, it’s just a few bad apples. Were you by chance fired?

Since when is it illegal to take pictures of people? Audio recording someone varies state to state, but taking a picture, even accidentally of someone is generally legal, unless that person sues you and the court deems otherwise.
I would think that you have a legal case, if anyone does here. For illegal detainment without probable cause of a crime, there’s really no need for the airline staff to have detained you or prevented you from going about your business.
I could be wrong, and I don’t know all of the details, but the scenario you were put in just seems ethically and legally wrong.

If you are an American and you are in a flight in America, I can almost 100% guarantee that any court in our land would find that your rights were violated and that you could easily sue and receive damages.Regardless of signage, by the way. Signage is quite often there to play upon your feelings. Laws matter. Policies are what people would like to have us all behave. Further, it doesn’t sound like you have any signage in your story so this is in your favor in the eyes of the court in terms of your innocent intentions.

First, air transportation is governed by the federal government. These are not private entities with privileges like going into someone’s home or even a private business as the photographs were presumably taken in the areas accessible by the general passenger group. Areas governed as public areas have the following caveats to everyone who does anything in public. That is, there is no expectation of privacy in public. Period. If you do not wish to be photographed or depicted in public you should obscure yourself or avoid the public. Period. Cops all wear cameras, almost all businesses have cameras recording you.

Next, a “policy” doesn’t mean anything as compared to violating your constitutional rights, your right to avoid unlawful detainment and to move about freely. Since a flight attendant has been granted powers as they relate to air safety you might consider them authorized to do something like this, but this has nothing to do with that.

Further contributing factors, you were at the least, defamed, embarrassed and coerced into handing over your property.
Since your damages were the pictures lost, I can imagine this being just a way of further proving this person was being a tyrant in the eyes of a judge.

If you have any doubts, simply type in “first amendment audit” into YouTube.

I’d be very surprised if you got less than $10,000 in a quick settlement. FornAA to avoid embarrassing themselves, the flight attendant is an idiot.

If for travel magazines, I understand. But legally, the attendant is criminal and needs a new job. Write the airlines before notifying the embassy. On the job one has no privacy rights regardless of comments here that are emotionally based and not rational founded.

Next time, ask the head stewardess just out of courtesy.

I would be more than happy to have them try to force me back in an enclosed space that I had already left. They have zero legal recourse and I would ask for the names of the pilot and flight attendant so I can file a claim with the FAA and American Airlines.

Amazing number of snivelling boot lockers that agree with illegal detainment.

FAs don’t just randomly approach/stop passengers like that. Makes me wonder what the guy was *really* doing/vibes he gave off that made the flight crew uncomfortable.

First, I’m amazed at the comments from people who clearly did not read his article in its entirety and then call him names. He merely reported what happened, not whining about it as some suggest. Second, I agree with one commenter that I would have continued up the jetway and into the concourse. They would then need to contact security or airline superiors to investigate. The FAs are off duty once the doors are open and you exit.

AA used to have a prohibition against photographs in its terms of carriage.

It’s absurd that one can take photos of a police officer but not a FA.

Wow. Why do humans need to photograph everything? Just relax and enjoy the flight and get it over with asap. These phones and social media have turned us into vapid shallow clowns.

Next thing you know, you’ll be prevented from taking photos of you family at the nearby shopping mall food court because some taco maker objects. This and the airplane are both open to the public (with a ticket) and there is no expectation of privacy.

If an airline has a “No Crew Photos“ rule it should be posted in the aircraft, just like “No Smoking” is posted.

Without the posted rule airline crew should be prepared to have their photo taken, just like any other professional who interfaces with the public. We all see pics and videos from fast food workers to fire and police; airline employees are no different.

Holy cow, a news article with a comments section? I haven’t seen one of these in years

Not only would I have gotten very violent at that point but I would be laughing after the lawsuit that payed me to thrash these goons

As a Delta Diamond and an Alaska MVP 100K, I have not had many issues with taking photos. However, there was a Skywest flight I was on where the Captain was a total jerk. I asked the Flight Attendant if I could look at the cockpit as we deplaned. The FA said I could, and I proceeded to the flight deck. I introduced myself to the captain and asked to take a photo of the cockpit. He became furious and demanded I leave his cockpit. He then followed me to the door and asked me, “Who the f#@k are you, and who do you think you are?” I proceeded to tell him I was sorry, and that I was just getting a photo for my son who is an aviation fan. He continued, “I don’t give a damn if your kid is the President, you don’t ever do that!” He was turning red and obviously very angry. Even the poor Flight Attendant chimed in and said, “Captain, I told him he could!” He just kept ranting and began going off on the flight attendant. I turned around and started my journey up the jetbridge. I turned around after a few steps and told the Captain, “I feel bad for your crew, you are a total arsehole!”

Anyways, that was my one and only terrible experience. I wrote to Skywest and never got a response back. Can’t blame them, because that is just unacceptable.

Lexi,
You are correct. cabin crew can ASK. they can NOT force. 1. Once the door opens the flight crew’s legal authority is zip. they can order a pizza, but nothing else. 2. forcibly accomplishing this during the flight or after would be anything from battery to kidnapping. hope you are ready to get a pair of stainless steel bracelets and a felony record and or a black eye from someone lawfully defending themselves from you.

As a 42 year career FA, I have know for years that a passenger taking pictures, or videos, of the crew is a no no. Think outside your personal box…it’s a huge security issue. Duh! End of story.

They should prohibit to take pictures and videos Police ?‍♀️. Look what happened with the Black guy died becuase I can’t breathe. The BLM were so angry that destroy all nation cities.

They should prohibit the social media and journalists pictures/ videotape police also.

They should prohibit to take pictures/ videos inside the airport where are employees and airlines out there also because people are complaining about their damage luggage ? and put it social media without permission and this cost pain to the airlines employees or companies industry.

If you Cuba ??, Russia ?? and China ?? prohibited: Why not us America ?????

I love shooting photos and videos, I love flying and I love mid-altitude photos. For several years, the only prohibition I faced was against powering on any battery operated device. I bought entirely mechanical cameras so I could shoot photos during takeoff and landing. One flight, though, was unlike all the others. It was a Delta flight from Texas to Virginia, I think, about 2016. It started well enough. The flight crew was smiling and laughing as I shot photos of them and the inside of the cockpit. Soon after the jet’s passenger door closed, though, as I stopped video recording the inside of the jet, a FA approached me and asked if I had captured her in my camera. I supposed there was a chance, though I wasn’t trying to get her. She demanded that I erase those photos. I refused. She warned me that I must comply with her instructions. I refused. She left and another FA sat next to me. After takeoff, she turned to me and said that she was the FA supervisor and she wanted me to delete my photos. She warned me that I would face legal prosecution if I did not comply. I refused. She told me that I would be arrested when we landed; then, she left me. I felt absolutely horrible–I hate confrontation–but I was certain that they had no right to view or delete my photos against my consent. Another FA offered me an extra can of beverage (I chose Sprite). I told myself that, after all, I had done nothing wrong, and I began feeling better. When we landed, I was apprehended by several men, who escorted me in front of all the other passengers so abruptly that I actually tripped over a bag a child was pulling behind her. I was taken to a small office off to the side of the passenger area, where a security officer, a detective, the FA who made the original complaint and maybe a few other people all gathered. I was asked several questions, which I answered as best I could, but I repeatedly refused to let anyone view or delete my photos. When it looked like I might be winning my argument, the FA would voice angry objections, including suggesting that it was suspicious that I had stopped recording and quickly put my camera away just as she walked up to me. Eventually, the FA left the meeting. After the detective said that he would let me go, and we all agreed that I was within my legal rights, he asked to see the contents of my camera. I shrugged and agreed. At one point, we did, indeed, catch a glimpse of the FA, and the security officer pointed and said, “Right there!” But they also saw photos of the flight crew smiling into my camera, and, after all, I had done nothing wrong. The detective warned me that the Dallas office likely would not be so understanding as he had been. So, I was released and continued on to my next flight.

Several weeks later, I was on a business trip on the same route. I really didn’t want to fly that airline, but that wasn’t my choice to make. Not too surprisingly, the same FA crossed paths with me. You should have seen her face! That glare could have killed!

I think this is the danger of making the instructions of air crew absolute and unquestionable. They get the idea that they can do anything, give any order, violate any right… sort of like a lot of government bureaucratic agencies behave.