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Air France in-flight thefts solved - flight attendant arrested
Earlier this year, we wrote about an Air France plane that had been hit by a pickpocket. The thief had emptied the wallets of business class passengers, and upon arrival in Paris, local police boarded the plane, but were unable to find the criminal. Six months after that incident, French police have arrested an Air France flight attendant suspected of being behind the thefts. In total, 142 Air France flights had been involved in theft incidents, and when police compared their reports with staff rosters, they pinpointed their suspect. Upon searching her home and a bank deposit box, they recovered jewelry, checks, credit card numbers.
When asked by Bloomberg about the incident, Air France had "no comment" on the arrest. Naturally, aviation law only covers luggage placed in the hold, so the airline does not accept liability for cabin baggage. Personally, I am amazed it took 142 reports of theft to finally get a hold of their suspect.
Just like we mentioned in January, always keep your personal items close to you, never let your wallet out of sight, and keep expensive electronics locked in your hand luggage. Sadly there is not much most you can do against in-flight theft, especially if it involves an inside job like this.
[Photo credit: DAVID BOILY/AFP/Getty Images]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sandy mcmath Aug 11th 2010 8:15AM
The airline was grossly negligent in failing properly to follow standard carrier screening procedures for prospective EMPLOYEES, training supervisory EMPLOYEES to observe and protect against such thefts, supervising its light attendant EMPLOYEES and in diligently pursuing an investigation once the thefts had come to its attention. It also had a duty to warn boarding passengers that such thefts were occurring and that they should take special precautions to protect their belongings. Finally, it had a duty to provide passengers with reasonable protection against the theft BY ITS EMPLOYEES WHOM IT PLACED IN THE POSITION OF BEING ABLE TO STEAL WITH IMPUNITY of their personal property under special circumstances known to airline management, which included an unsolved epidemic of EMPLOYEE larceny. The draconian limitations of the Warsaw and other conventions may be (and often are) overcome in such situations, particularly by North American and EU passengers. Victims should consult their local attorney who in turn should contact a lawyer experienced in aviation tort and contract law.