Southwest Pilot Convicted of Lewd Act Says Co-pilot Did WHAT?

A day after I broke this story, Michael Haak’s lawyer says Christine Janning asked for it

• The usual content advisory and trigger warning for discussion of sexual assault

• Anyone wanting to reach Janning’s attorney Frank Podesta about anything relating to this case can confidentially contact StopAirlineAssault@proton.me

UPDATED 2:30 p.m EDT: Janning’s attorney, Frank Podesta, tells The Landing:

“Since the lawsuit has gone public, we are aware of several new victims who have reached out,” he said, adding that some have identified other alleged offenders within the airline, as well.

When asked how Janning is doing, Podesta, a partner in the lawfirm FGP Law, LLC, replied, “She’s OK. Obviously this has been scarring; she was trapped in a cockpit with a potential sexual assault situation. She sued for sexual assault, but it almost became a sexual battery. All he had to do was take it one step further—and Christine didn’t know whether he would or not.”

By filing this suit, he said, “Her goal is about raising awareness and change. The stats, the numbers, at Southwest are terrible. No more than 3.6 percent of pilots are women. You can imagine how many are women of color.

“It’s an incredibly unrepresented area. They’re not represented in the union. They’re not represented in management anywhere. These claims pouring in where flight attendants or pilots are being sexually harassed, assaulted or battered, [the perpetrators are getting] slaps on the wrist.”

He said his client is seeking a change in the industry and to shed a light on what goes on, especially with alleged attempts and pressure by the airline to silence victims with nondisclosure agreements (NDAs).

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POSTED 11:30 a.m. EDT: You read it here first on Tuesday: Southwest Airlines pilot Christine Janning is suing her former colleague, now-retired Captain Michael Haak, along with her employer and her union, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), for claims relating to a lewd act perpetrated in a locked cockpit on Aug. 10, 2020.

Janning and Haak differ in their recounting of what happened that day.

Anyway, a full day after my scoop, the Associated Press picked up the story, at which point outlets nationally and internationally ran with the wire service’s article and in more than a few places used minimizing language to describe Janning’s allegations.

(That said, The Daily Beast tagged their story “Cockpit Creep.”).

Southwest Airlines did not respond to my request for comment, but according to the AP the airline said “it supported Janning and that it would ‘vigorously defend’ itself against the lawsuit.”

SWAPA has not responded to requests for comment from me nor the AP as of yesterday.

A couple of things stood out in the coverage and social media chatter I was following yesterday (Wednesday).

The Rebuttal

The key event, of course, was Haak’s attorney Michael Salnick giving us a glimpse of what his client’s defense will be in this case.

Salnick has not given me a comment yet, but he did speak to the AP.

The defense attorney apparently said Wednesday that during the incident on Southwest Airlines Flight 6607 from Philadelphia to Orlando on Aug. 10, 2020, Haak

“disrobed only after Janning encouraged him to, never did anything else and that there were no previous incidents.”

Also:

“Salnick said it was Janning who asked Haak if there was anything he wanted to do before retiring. When he replied he wanted to fly naked, she told him to go ahead and then made sexual advances after he disrobed, Salnick said. He said Haak rejected those and adamantly denied a lewd act occurred.”

Michael Haak deserves to have his side of the story out there, and have his day in court, and he is entitled to rigorously defend himself against any and all claims.

This particular defense, though, seems like a risky tack to me.

Haak has called the event a “consensual prank” in the past, which clashes with Janning’s labeling it a “sexual assault.” I poked around on social media and with some of my airline sources and it seems Haak stands about 6’ 3” while Janning is diminutive, her height estimated around 5’ 2” to 5’ 3” at the most.

So here we have the She-Asked-for-it Defense, which is as old as time, but Haak’s attorney went further.

Not only did Janning consent to a captain she just met that day stripping naked mid-flight, but she made sexual advances toward this 60-year-old married man while he was disrobed (he denies masturbating), his lawyer told the AP.

So: an airplane full of passengers is hurtling through the sky, the Captain is naked and not at the controls, and the co-pilot is busy making sexual advances…so who’s flying the plane?

I mean, it was obviously autopilot doing the work, but for some reason I thought it was also kind of important to have actual human pilots at the controls, too? I mean, I’m no aviation expert, but…

The feds said Janning was performing her pilot duties the entire time: “As the plane continued its flight, Haak further engaged in inappropriate conduct in the cockpit, as the first officer continued to perform her duties as an assigned aircrew member,” said a statement from the prosecutor’s office at the time of the 2021 criminal case.

In my opinion, here is the danger in this defense: By going the extra mile and painting a vivid picture of a seasoned woman pilot and mom making “advances” toward a superior officer she’d just met, you might stretch credulity for some people, particularly women who might imagine themselves in that position and possibly, potentially, find it…a stretch?

Maybe it’s just me.

Other Alleged Victims

In her lawsuit, Janning claims there have been other incidents by Haak inside and outside the airline industry (see my original story).

Haak’s attorney denied this Wednesday, saying there were “no previous incidents” as reported by the AP.

Still, Janning’s legal team has put out that email address for anyone to contact them, and their filing alleges Haak has other victims. (Again, Haak’s attorney denied this).

It makes me wonder if such a vivid portrayal of Janning’s alleged response that day in the cockpit could potentially rile up any other alleged victims out there. I’m just speculating, because we don’t know if there are others or not—and again, maybe it’s just me.

In the end, for this same incident, federal prosecutors felt Janning was sufficiently victimized to bring charges in a Maryland court. The FBI conducted a months-long investigation into it.

Haak pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of committing a lewd act and was sentenced to one year of probation, a $5,000 fine, and was not required to register as a sex offender.

More to come.