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Flight Attendant’s Engine Photo Selfie Stirs Up Trouble With Spirit Airlines

By Regina Avalos
Published on: 22:30 PST, May 27, 2015

A Spirit Airlines flight attendant was caught taking an engine photo by passengers, and now that flight attendant is in hot water with the airline this week. According to Daily Mail, the flight attendant was working on a flight leaving from Chicago recently. After the passengers boarded the plane, some looked out their windows and saw a flight attendant posing for photos in front of the engine of the plane. She also climbed inside the engine for one photo.

At that time, the passengers had no idea that the flight attendant was working on their flight, but they soon learned that she was. Once she was on board the plane, some of the passengers questioned the flight attendant about the snap shots, and they asked for her name. She told the passengers that she was simply “taking a picture.”

Daily Mail reported that the flight attendant was Ericka Paige Diehl. She is an Illinois resident, and passengers saw the snap shots they witnessed being taken on her Facebook. It was after the passengers saw the photos on the flight attendant’s Facebook page that they immediately decided to report that incident to the media.

Spirit Airlines, based out of Florida, is now looking into the incident. Paul Berry, a spokesperson for the airline, addressed the incident with a statement.

“The activity portrayed in the photo absolutely goes against Spirit policy. We will be investigating further and take appropriate action.”


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However, selfies shared by flight attendants is not something new. An Inquisitr report from last year talked about the “mile-high selfies” craze. Flight attendants take photos both on and off the plane. Their poses can be cheeky and cute. Photos taken on the engine or in front of it are very common.

Heather Poole, a flight attendant with 18 years’ experience and the author of Cruising Attitude, defended the Chicago O’Hare selfie on her Twitter on Tuesday night.

However, this is very different from her stance on the craze last year. The report from the Inquisitr mentioned earlier in this article shared her comments on her craze at that time.

“When I go to my Instagram feed and see [flight attendants] posting pictures in uniforms, I can’t believe they do that. It’s a big deal. The airlines protect their image, everything is very strict. You could lose your job.”

Sylvester Pittman, another former flight attendant, spoke with ABC News about the photo and the practice of flight attendant selfies.

“I have a picture in a jet engine, and pretty much everybody that I know that has been a flight attendant… it’s just one of those things that we like to do.”

It is not known if the flight attendant in this incident will lose her job. Spirit Airlines has stated that the photos were against their policy. After the incident started to receive attention, Diehl deleted the photos from her Facebook. Her entire Facebook page has now been deleted as well. ABC did try to reach Diehl for comments about the photos, but she told them that she was not at liberty to discuss them.”

It might not be the actual photos that is causing the problem. The Consumerist revealed what the actual issue may be in their report of the incident, and it is tarmac location.

“A representative for the Chicago Department of Aviation tells WLS that in order for someone to access the tarmac and then a plane’s engine well, they would have to be properly badged and/or under escort. It wasn’t immediately clear if the flight attendant or the person taking the photos had that authority.”

Since this story went viral on Wednesday, some have taken to social media to express their feelings about the incident. Many do not see a problem with the photos at all.

What do you think of the flight attendant engine photo? Do you have a problem with the practice?

[Photo: Wikimedia Commons]

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