FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines has backtracked on a court filing blaming a 9-year-old girl for being filmed while using an airplane bathroom on a flight last September.

What You Need To Know

  • American Airlines backtracked on a court filing blaming a 9-year-old for being filmed while using an airplane bathroom

  • Lawyers argued in court that the girl acted negligently and "should have known" she was being filmed

  • The Fort Worth-based airline said the defense is "not representative" of the airline

  • Prosecutors say former American Airlines flight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III possessed cell phone recordings of four girls — ages 7, 9, 11 and 14 — using aircraft lavatories

Lawyers for the airline argued in court that the 9-year-old acted negligently and “should have known” she was being filmed, ABC News reported.

"Defendant would show that any injuries or illnesses alleged to have been sustained by Plaintiff, Mary Doe, were proximately caused by Plaintiff's own fault and negligence, were proximately caused by Plaintiff's use of the compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device."

In a statement, the Fort Worth-based airline said the filing is "not representative" of the airline.

"Our outside legal counsel retained with our insurance company made an error in this filing. 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 the 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 read.

Prosecutors say former American Airlines flight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III possessed cell phone recordings of four girls — ages 7, 9, 11 and 14 — using aircraft lavatories. They also allege Thompson possessed images of child sexual abuse generated through artificial intelligence.

Thompson on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to attempting to record the 14-year-old using an airplane bathroom on a separate flight to Boston, also in September of last year.

Thompson was indicted last month on one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of images of child sexual abuse. He was arrested and charged in January 2024 in Lynchburg, Virginia, and has been in federal custody since then.