My buddy Jeremy, who I met years ago, I believe on an Air New Zealand delivery flight for their new 777-300, is a popular and talented aviation photographer. He recently tweeted something concerning, a risk which all travelers should know about.
“Honest question: can a crew member physically prevent me from getting off of the airplane until I showed them the contents of my phone (they wanted to see the last 3 photos) to verify that I did not take a photo that contained them in it.”
Honest question: can a crew member physically prevent me from getting off of the airplane until I showed them the contents of my phone (they wanted to see the last 3 photos) to verify that I did not take a photo that contained them in it. pic.twitter.com/d6m42a8ck4
— JDL (@photoJDL) October 28, 2022
The incident happened on October 28 on an American Airlines flight (AA 5510) operated by PSA between Charlotte and Asheville. Jeremy was tweeting back and forth with other avgeeks and included some disturbing details.
Jeremy writes: “I was off the plane and the FA had the captain prevent me from going further down the jetbridge and then brought me *back* onto the plane and took the phone out of my hands.”
“I had stepped into the jetbridge and the FA had what I think was the pilot or FO block me from going further. Then they brought me back on the plane and the FA demanded I open my phone and show them the last several photos and then took the phone out of my hands to inspect them.”
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Jeremy is a smart man who understands airline policies. He went on to tweet: “I get that they may have a policy about not photographing staff without their permission. I get that and support that. Does suspecting a passenger violated that enable them to functionally detain someone and search a personal device?”
I’ve sent Jeremy a message asking for more information about what happened but he’s definitely not the first nor the last passenger to whom this has happened, which is the point of this article.
As Zach Honig, a very popular aviation blogger, who used to work for The Points Guy, wrote: “This is incredibly upsetting to hear. I can’t believe they thought for a moment that it’s acceptable to force you back onto the plane and demand to see your phone. Sorry this happened to you ?”
Zach has firsthand experience with this as he wrote a post in 2015 titled: “When Photography Gets You in Trouble at 35,000 Feet.”
Zach was on another American Airlines flight, a widebody to London with his girlfriend. “The purser was accusing her of taking pictures on the plane, which, apparently is forbidden. Except that it’s not — well, not exactly. The thing is, Sarah didn’t even have a camera — I was the one taking pictures. The purser went so far as to say “this could be trouble for the both of you,” which carried some pretty serious implications, especially given the current state of commercial air travel.”
Zach contacted American Airlines PR and they confirmed the policy to him with this statement: “American allows photography and video recording for personal use. For many customers, taking photos and sharing them on social networks has become part of their travel experience. When photographs and video are used for professional purposes, we do our best to notify flight crews so they are aware and prepared to offer some additional latitude with journalists and bloggers.”
Another AvGeek, Charles Ryan Teo, replied to Jeremy’s thread stating: “I had crew insisting on me deleting the photos but that was during the flight. I was on Transasia. No issue with other crew on this flight, only with this particular one. I was just taking photos of the cabin and nothing else.”
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@dubshn1028 from Ireland chimed in with: “It happens a lot of some European airlines where a warning is given not to photo crew or pax but they can photograph the outside of the plane I know some of the bloggers get away with it.”
Personally, I have also had a similar experience in 2006 while flying Newark to Porto, Portugal on TAP. I was on a government/airline-funded press trip and was shocked that within a minute of boarding the aircraft, I was scolded. I wrote on my blog: “I got off to a bad start with the flight attendant, because when I first sat down I took a picture. He came over and said, “no pictures allowed on the plane.” I thought he was joking, but he wasn’t. Have you ever heard of such a stupid thing? I reverted to sneaking pictures (not using a flash) so I could share my experiences with you.”
I can understand about not wanting me to take photos of the flight attendants and other passengers, which I almost never do without asking for their permission but not being able to take photos of the seat, the food and myself is ridiculous.
I did take a big chance, continuing to take pictures, which I wouldn’t do today. It was dumb, especially on a foreign airline as I could have ended up in jail. My advice includes a few basic and simple things:
1. Don’t take photos of the crew or other passengers without their permission.
2. If asked not to take photos, stop.
3. If asked to delete your photos, it’s best to comply or risk being banned from the airline, losing your status/miles or worse, being arrested (depending on the country).
Have you ever been yelled at or physically detained because you took photos on a plane? If yes, please share the details (airline, year, what happened) in the comments section.
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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.
Sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress or false imprisonment. Slander is too hard to prove if no one else was around. Either way I get why airline inflight employees are on edge. But use common sense and for gosh sake don’t break the law.
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 ?
These FA’s and pilots need to get over themselves! They don’t want their pictures taken because of their privacy but work in an environment where 100s of strangers see them daily! Was his phone their property? Nope, so they should of kept their hands off it! Police can’t even take your phone with out a warrant unless a crime was committed, ( A crime not a policy)! Under no circumstances can police access the content of your phone with out a warrant! So for all you ( don’t take my picture babies ) get over yourself and stop breaking the law!
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.
So many opinions of so little value. The law is clear and supercedes opinions, talk with an attorney!
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.
On the plane the Captain is god, on the jetway they’d need a court order….. that’s why they brought you back. It somehow seems that too many people pretend to be Tom Cruise on a Mission Impossible set. Everyone is going a little nutty it seems!
This is a great idea. Thanks for sharing a way to thwart illegal search and annoy9ng seizure by annoying and obnoxious employees.
First of all, I am always videotaped in the course of my job. So it doesn’t bother me. All those FA’s are concerned about is if you have something incriminating tha tyou could use to lodge a complaint against them for…
I am a youtuber, and flying is part of many of my videos. I have never been told I can’t video or take pictures, but I HAVE been told that I can’t use the window mount, for a plethora of illegitimate reasons. Also, although you shouldn’t directly take photos of other pax, there’s nothing they can do if another passenger happens to appear in the photo when taking said photo of a different focal point entirely.
Pro Tip:
If you take photos and videos on board an aircraft, here’s a tip… Take a portable hard drive or a large capacity flash drive that you can use to transfer all your airplane photos without using a computer. COPY them to the drive and make sure you create a file maze with names only you’ll recognize so the photos don’t show up in a general quick search. Then hide the drive. If they confront you and ask you to delete, let them THINK they’re winning, and comply. What they won’t know is that they didn’t actually win.
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.
Lexi , you ll be kissing ? my ass. ???