Flight Attendant Jailed for Filming Minors on Flights

Former American Airlines flight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III was sentenced to 18.5 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to secretly filming girls as young as seven in airplane lavatories over nine months. The case came to light when a 14-year-old girl found Thompson's iPhone taped under a toilet seat on a Charlotte-to-Boston flight and alerted her parents and authorities. Investigators discovered Thompson used his position to target children, stored and edited illicit videos, and possessed AI-generated child sexual abuse material. At sentencing, Thompson apologized, calling his actions 'selfish, perverse, and wrong,' while Judge Julia Kobick denounced his conduct as 'appalling' and highlighted the victims' lasting trauma. American Airlines immediately terminated Thompson after the incident. Restitution for the victims will be determined at a later date.