Alaska Airlines pilot, saying she was raped by fellow pilot, sues company

An Alaska Airlines pilot has sued the airline, alleging she was drugged and raped by another pilot during a layover last year. The lawsuit by Betty Pina, 39, was filed in King County Superior Court in Washington State on Wednesday, 20 days after it was presented to the airline on Feb. 13. A copy of the complaint was provided by her lawyer, Eric John Makus. It claims that Pina, an Army veteran who flew helicopter missions in Afghanistan, was the co-pilot on a June flight with the captain from Anchorage to Seattle to Minneapolis, where the two had a scheduled layover. According to the complaint, the pilot asked Pina to join him for pizza and drinks in the hotel bar where flight crews spend time. Once there, Pina said she had one glass of wine, and then he brought her a second. Sitting on a stool, she had a “hard time keeping her head up” and “things appeared to be closing in,” the complaint says. It claims that he proceeded to “drug Ms. Pina and rape her during a state of involuntary intoxication.” In the lawsuit, she said she was sick and vomited, and when she “challenged” the pilot, he denied that there had been sexual contact and replied, “You were coming on to me pretty hard.” Pina said over subsequent weeks, she reported details of what she could remember to the union, an airline human resource official and an investigator referred by the airline. She did not report the episode to the police. Pina is seeking damages for workplace rape and the airline’s “unlawfully retaliatory” actions, according to the complaint. It claims that the airline has failed to hold the male pilot accountable and that he poses a “threat to other employees.” In a statement, Alaska Airlines said it was taking the matter seriously.<br/>