Video of lavatory, in Southwest Airlines flight cockpit

When a Southwest Airlines flight attendant entered the cockpit during a flight and saw an iPad showing what appeared to be live footage from the plane’s lavatory, one of the pilots assured her it was a “top secret security measure”, according to court documents. Now, the airline denies there was ever a camera at all.

The flight attendant, Renee Steinaker, sued Southwest Airlines last year for emotional distress, negligence, invasion of privacy and sexual harassment. On Saturday, the airline said it would “vigorously defend the lawsuit”, claiming it had investigated the allegations at the time of the alleged incident, in February 2017, and had found no hidden camera.