busdriver12

I agree. Nobody in this position is going to invite public scrutiny unless they feel they are squeaky clean. Certainly someone who was an alcoholic would not want to be looked at closely.

Slayer1234

I am not saying he drugged her. I have no idea. But to say it’s imposible to black out or have memory loss from a few drinks and a drug like GHB or Flunitrazepam is false. These drugs effects are dose dependent and at large enough doses by themselves can cause unconsciousness and anterograde amnesia (the ability to form memories). The dose and mixture it takes to reach these side effects depends on the individual.

http://www.who.int/medicines/areas/q...BPreReview.pdf

Han Solo

You're assuming people make rational decisions. Lisa Nowak was both a Navy pilot and a NASA astronaut. She drove across the country in a diaper with a kidnap kit in her vehicle. Military ain't special, they're just people. Rational people consider the scrutiny that will follow when they make big public moves. I don't know if the FO is rational or not. One would like to think airlines hire rational FOs, we'd also like to think they don't hire men who become rapist captains. I think everybody can agree on those two statements, yet one of them is false in this particular case.

FlyingKat

Every instance that I have seen where a company has solid proof that an individual commits any act of sexual assault they are gone. Period. The liabilities are just too great. The attorneys and HR will not take the risk of a lawsuit. Companies will not open themselves up to lawsuits just to cover for somebody. You might get a couple of warnings and suspension with harassment depending on the circumstances, but rape and drugging another employee? You are history.

EasyVictor

Just thinking. If they were both pulled from duty for drinking and making another crew member go as far as contacting the company stating why they were uncomfortable, wouldn't a drug and alcohol test be conducted after the deadheading back to base? Wouldn't that prove what drugs if any is found in her system under 24 hours.

If a passenger had accused the crew of drinking to the point where they are taken from the trip and sent back to base, I would hope a drug and alcohol test is done instead of a carpet dance to prove for or against the accusation. With that said, I would hope their Chief Pilot Office would have enough common sense to do the same if you are being reported by another crew member because these types of things just don't happen every day

Quest Diagnostic or whoever conduct this required DOT drug and alcohol test should have proof if any or what drugs were in her system if she was drugged.

rickair7777

One would think. I would think a company would PREFER to fire someone so accused if there's any way they can pull it off. If such a person was guilty, odds are they'd do it again eventually and then the company is really left holding the bag, with previous history on record. My guess is he'd be long gone if he was white collar. Union is going to demand some threshold of evidence other than "she said" though.

Excargodog

YMMV. I've had 0.5 mg of Xanax once, as a premed an hour before a dental implant. According to my wife, I was talking to the Care Bears forty-five minutes later, enroute to the dental surgeon. I don't remember it, or the surgery which was done under IV sedation. Or for about an hour afterwards. And that was with no alcohol whatever aboard.

The IV and surgery could have been done by the building janitor for all I can recall.

If so, he did a good job though....

FlyingKat

Oh I guarantee you there will be physical evidence and witnesses. You'd be amazed at how much scrutiny of crews there are on layovers at hotels these days. For liability reasons these hotels are wired and cammed out the wazoo. Plus hotel employees know who the crews are and keep an eye on what is going on. I guarantee there were hotel employees present in the Concierge room that witnessed what happened and how much she drank. Apparently the FAs were in the room as well. The other thing I guarantee is as soon as the "First Officer" was called, the company called hotel management and had them take pictures and go through everything in their rooms once they checked out.

Further in order to believe in a coverup, you would have to buy the fact that the outside attorney they hired to investigate is complicit. Somehow I don't buy the idea that Marcella Reed, an African American female attorney, with a 25 year career as a employment lawyer with emphasis in diversity issues, harassment issues, workplace violence, and developed the diversity program for Boeing would find evidence of drugging and rape, and then cover it up. It just doesn't wash. If this lady found credible evidence of sexual assault this guy would be gone. She's not going to risk her reputation for this guy or Alaska Airlines.

Hopefully her report will be made public either in discovery or Alaska may have to release it somehow given the public nature of these accusations.

Excargodog

Nope. They test for five categories of drugs only. None of the drugs most commonly used for date rape are included:

As per DOT regulations 49 CFR Part 40 the DOT panel now looks like this:

Marijuana metabolites
Cocaine metabolites
Phencyclidine (PCP)
Opioids (codeine, heroin, morphine, oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydrocodonea and hydromorphone)
Amphetamines (amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA & MDA)

Mesabah

I'm not focusing on the blacking out/memory loss, these drugs interfere with GABA receptors in the brain. It's the unconscious vomiting, ability to make it back to her room, after a call with ALPA at 2:46 am, and her next morning of being extremely hungover with immediate vomiting upon ingestion of any fluids, are not know side effects of Benzos. You still have to drink heavily to have the results she is describing. However, if her drinking was heavy enough, then all of her symptoms can be attributed to the alcohol. It's significantly more likely they both over drank, the captain took advantage of her in her drunken state, rather than the captain is carrying around date rape drugs.