A Malaysian man who flew first class has been accused of hiding a miniature camera in the toilet of a United Airlines plane to record women – and he is suspected of doing the same on at least one Emirates flight.
The alleged Peeping Tom worked for an American multinational oil corporation.
Investigations began when a Texan woman flying first class on United Airlines flight 646 from San Diego to Houston on 5 May 2019 noticed a device with a blinking blue light in the aircraft toilet cubicle.
The device was allegedly placed near the cabinet and wall area, near a door hinge.
Reports say the suspicious female passenger turned the device over to flight crew who in turn gave it to airline corporate security.
Security confirmed it was a video recording device. They examined the footage and saw a man installing the device in the bathroom in first class on that same flight. He was identified by distinctive clothing and jewellery.
Disturbingly, reports say the FBI in Houston recovered deleted files on the same device – and they showed the interior of another aircraft toilet cubicle, this one on an Emirates flight. At least two women were caught on camera, one wearing an Emirates flight crew uniform.
Investigations have led to a man being charged with video voyeurism within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, ABC Eyewitness News in the US reported.
An arrest warrant has been issued.
Tiny camera
More generally, security experts say the low cost and easy availability of tiny cameras is playing into the hands of weird perverts and scoundrels, who use them for nefarious purposes, such as hiding them in bathrooms and bedrooms in hotels, guesthouses and cruise ships. The United Airlines case may be the first found in an aircraft toilet.
Written by Peter Needham
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