What to Know
- A cleaning crew found a dead fetus in a bathroom on an American Airlines plane in a hangar at LaGuardia Airport Tuesday
- The plane had arrived at the Queens hub from North Carolina Monday night; photos showed Port Authority cops surround the jet Tuesday
- The Queens district attorney's office is investigating; American Airlines referred questions to law enforcement
Cops have tracked down the young woman who says she miscarried in a bathroom of an American Airlines flight when it landed in Queens this week -- and she told detectives she didn't know she was pregnant, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation tell News 4 New York.
Detectives tracked her down at a hospital in Brooklyn after flight attendants who had been on the plane said they remembered seeing two young women sitting near the back go into the bathroom after it landed. Cops pulled out a manifest and looked for the names of the women who had been sitting there.
The mother, whose name has not been released, told detectives she had been bleeding for a day or two while they were on a trip in Jamaica. Their flight stopped in Charlotte, North Carolina, before heading back to New York -- and when the plane did land in Queens, the mother said she was uncomfortable.
She told cops she miscarried the fetus in the plane bathroom, put it in the toilet and covered it with paper towels. She said the baby didn't make a sound and didn't appear to be alive. Autopsy results are still pending.
She also told police she didn't know she was pregnant, law enforcement sources say. Cops are investigating that claim.
The grisly discovery was made before 7 a.m. Tuesday aboard the flight, which had arrived in Queens from Charlotte late the night before.
Local
American's flight tracker showed the plane, flight 1942, left Charlotte at 8:56 p.m. and arrived at LaGuardia's Terminal B at 10:44 p.m. Monday. Photos from the scene showed Port Authority cops surround the jet on a tarmac Tuesday after it apparently was removed from the hangar for further investigation.
American Airlines referred all questions to law enforcement, telling News 4, "As we continue to learn more about this tragic and sensitive situation, we are actively cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation."
The Queens district attorney's office says it is also investigating.
