Ex-'Wheel' Announcer Jim Thornton: Photo Shows 'Panic' After Airline Discovers Pedophile Chat

Ex-"Wheel of Fortune" announcer Jim Thornton worried someone saw him in an online chat for pedophiles ... at least according to a photo taken moments after a flight attendant confronted him.

TMZ obtained the pic taken back in May by a passenger seated near Thornton on an American Airlines flight. The passenger grew concerned after seeing chatroom messages on Thornton's laptop about "cute boys" and a "hot little girl" at a restaurant ... so she reported it to a flight attendant.

In the new photo, Jim is on his phone reading the results of a Google A.I. search shortly after the flight attendant -- who'd spoken to the concerned passenger -- forced him to close his laptop.

The question he asked the A.I. search is unclear, but what we can see of the screen reads, “No link to your room: Unless you explicitly told someone ... 'I am hosting this specific chatroom on for right now 'nobody [illegible] at your internet [illegible] … and link your …. identity to the … [illegible] room.”

Another line on his screen, which is mostly covered by Thornton’s hand, reads, “Why you … [illegible] to Panic. Even if some …”

The passenger tells us Thornton seemed nervous after the FA made him shut down his laptop.

TMZ broke the story ... multiple photos show Thornton engaged with others in Lifeline.chat, some of whom told him it was risky to be in the chat while on a commercial flight. He boasted no one around him would be able to tell.

Using the handle "NicholasB77," Thornton said, "What if someone sees a random sequence of lines on a screen. I love it. I hide the part that says "Lifeline" so it's just a few lines. It's a big middle finger to da man who takes away every other enjoyable activity."

He also named a different pedophile site and claimed he was going to go there to "start looking at the galleries! Heheeeeee.” 

As we reported ... the flight attendant told the captain about Thornton's messages, and the captain told law enforcement to great them at the gate at LAX. 

Jim’s lawyer told TMZ ... her client had “become active in suicide-prevention advocacy” since he lost a family member to suicide, so he frequently visits 988lifeline.org.

Thornton claims someone from that group sent him the link to lifeline.chat -- the one for pedos -- and left the website immediately after finding out it wasn’t the suicide prevention chat. However, the photos -- which show time stamps in the chat -- show Jim was in there for nearly an hour.

Thornton’s lawyer pointed out it's “not unlawful” to be in that chat, there was no child pornography shared ... and her client was not arrested or charged with a crime after law enforcement questioned him at LAX.

TMZ was first to report ... Thornton is now fired from "Wheel of Fortune," following Sony Pictures Television Studio conducting its own investigation.

We reached out to Thornton's attorney for comment on his AI search, but no word back.