Marilyn Parver, a Kingman, AZ, grandmother, made a quick, low-quality video recording of an altercation between a noisy kid and an annoyed passenger on a JetBlue flight from JFK airport in NYC to Las Vegas, NV, on July 26. The video was shot over her shoulder; she never even left her seat or stood up.

About 30 minutes after the incident, the flight attendants questioned other passengers about the incident. When then learned she had a video, they summoned her to the back of the plane, where she played the video for them, after which the flight attendants demanded she destroy the video. Marilyn Parver refused to destroy the video and returned to her seat.

Note that flight attendants have no legal authority to inspect electronic media in your possession nor to demand its destruction.

Kingman Daily Miner: Woman detained by airline over video


This, if so stated, was a blatant lie on the part of lead flight attendant. All personal electronic devices (except those which broadcast or receive signals via an antenna) are allowed above an altitude of 10,000 feet.

The crew again harassed Marilyn Parver by summoning her once more to the back of the plane and told her captain "demanded that I delete the video". The crew declined to allow her to speak to the captain by phone to confirm the request, and again she returned to her seat.



When the plane landed, she was arrested and led off the plane in handcuffs.



At this point the police should have returned her camera & set her free. Her continued possession of the video is a civil matter between Marilyn Parver and Jet Blue and not a proper concern of law enforcement officers. Instead, they continued to detain her while a JetBlue representative demanded she erase the video and bullied her:

Marilyn Parver requested that the threats be stated in writing. She was ordered to leave by the JetBlue representative and by the police officers. Again the police officers are interfering in a civil matter outside of their jurisdiction. Once they concluded that no crime had been committed, they should have informed Marilyn Parker that she was free to leave and then excused themselves.

When Marilyn Parver next asked for the names of all present, an officer told her to leave or be arrested.

Big mistake on the officer's part: Any officer operating within the law would have immediately handed over his business card. Instead, she was arrested:

If there's any truth to that last statement, the police should have arrested the crew members for filing a false police report after the viewed the video tape. Unfortunately, there never seem to be any repercussions for the crew members who make such false accusations.

Eventually, and buised on her legs and wrists, Marilyn Parver was released. The Las Vegas police department neglected to keep any documentation of the incident.

Excuse me, but when you arrest and handcuff someone, drive her down to a police station, and hold her for hours, you'd better be able to document some good reasons for your actions.

The story has also been picked up by the Consumerist: JetBlue has Grandmother Arrested for Refusing to Delete an Unflattering Video Recording

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There is an update in the St. Petersburg (FL) Times: Ugliness mounts between fliers and airline crew

JetBlue now appears to be backtracking:

Except that they don't have the spine to make any specific accusations.

The on-line edition of St. Petersburg article was last updated Aug. 21.

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I don't know why someone video-taping something on a plane could be a problem. I get irritated sometimes by people and their kids when on a plane, too. I know it is very hard to sit with a child for hours, but there are still certain things you shouldn't let your kids do. Like bother other passengers.