American Airlines Faces Lawsuit Over Passenger’s False Drug Arrest

FORT WORTH- An American Airlines (AA) passenger traveling from Nassau (NAS) to Miami (MIA) was jailed in the Bahamas after authorities claimed she smuggled more than 100 bottles of codeine in a checked bag. The problem: she never checked a bag.

Alison Dominguez, who flew round-trip from Miami (MIA) in April, only carried hand luggage. Yet a bag filled with drugs was tagged under her name, leading to her arrest and nearly a week in harsh Bahamian prison conditions.

Photo: American Airlines

American Airlines False Drug Arrest Lawsuit

Dominguez had checked in online around midday, arrived at Nassau Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS) in the late afternoon, and cleared immigration using Global Entry and TSA PreCheck.

She waited in the lounge for her scheduled American Airlines (AA) departure to Miami (MIA).

At 5:10 PM, US Customs agents and an airline employee called her to the gate. They presented a checked bag labeled with her name, but she denied ever seeing it. Inside were more than 100 bottles of codeine.

Despite pointing out that she never checked a bag, she was arrested and later described spending nearly a week in jail under grim conditions.

Her lawsuit states the bag had been checked in before she arrived at the airport, indicating insider involvement.

Because Nassau has US preclearance facilities, a smuggling accomplice could have retrieved the bag in Miami without having to pass through customs.

Photo: Embraer

Claims in the Lawsuit

Dominguez accuses American Airlines (AA) of:

• Negligence for failing to secure baggage and personal information.
• Defamation by falsely reporting her as the bag’s owner.
• False imprisonment for instigating her arrest.
• Failure to act despite prior knowledge of staff-linked smuggling incidents.

The lawsuit highlights the airline’s alleged inaction while she was detained, noting that clear inconsistencies like the bag being checked before her arrival could have been used to clear her name sooner.

Legal Defenses Likely to Surface

American Airlines is expected to argue:

• Montreal Convention preemption: claiming her injuries stemmed from an “accident” during embarkation, limiting remedies under international air carriage law.
• Airline Deregulation Act preemption: asserting baggage handling is a “service” shielded from state law claims.
• Statutory immunity: arguing protection for reporting suspected criminal activity, unless the report was materially false.
• No vicarious liability: stating that an employee’s alleged smuggling was outside the scope of their job.

Dominguez counters that imprisonment happened after embarkation, defamation and false arrest are not “accidents of carriage,” and false reporting is not an airline service. She argues America’s negligence directly caused her detention.

Wider Implications for Airlines and Passengers

This case underscores risks tied to app-based check-in, where baggage could be fraudulently added under a passenger’s name without their knowledge.

It also raises questions about airline accountability in insider smuggling cases, passenger data security, and cooperation with foreign authorities.

Forum disputes may also emerge, since the incident happened in Nassau (NAS), the lawsuit is filed in Florida, and American Airlines (AA) is headquartered in Texas.

The outcome may set an important precedent for how far airline liability extends when insider misconduct and false reporting harm passengers.

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The post American Airlines Faces Lawsuit Over Passenger’s False Drug Arrest appeared first on Aviation A2Z.