31, 2020, three weeks after the incident that led to the criminal charge. His last flight for the Dallas-based airline was on Aug. Haak, a resident of Longwood, Florida, was a Southwest Airlines pilot for 27 years until his retirement. The judge wasn’t bound by that recommendation. He was charged in Maryland because it was one of the states that the aircraft passed over that day.įederal prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of probation without requiring Haak to register as a sex offender. Haak was charged in April with intentionally committing a lewd, indecent or obscene act in a public place, a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 90 days in jail. “She had a right not to be subjected to this kind of behavior, regardless of what may have motivated it or prompted it,” the prosecutor said.
“This is not the kind of aberrant behavior that anyone should accept,” the prosecutor added.Ĭunningham said the first officer “unfortunately suffered some consequences” as a result of the incident that Haak “didn’t have anything to do with,” but he didn’t elaborate. Haak “had a duty to comport himself in a much more responsible manner,” Assistant U.S. The judge told Haak that his actions had a traumatic effect on the co-pilot and could have impacted the safety of passengers and other co-workers. The first officer submitted a statement to the court but didn’t speak during Friday’s hearing. Pilot caught watching pornography on a laptop during flight Credit: Scott Olson /Getty Images “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,” the statement says. After the plane reached its cruising altitude, Haak got out of the pilot’s seat, “disrobed” and began watching pornographic material on a laptop computer in the cockpit, prosecutors said.
Our corporate culture is built upon treating others with mutual respect and dignity, and the events alleged in this situation are inconsistent with the behavior that we require of our employees.Watch the latest News on Channel 7 or stream for free on 7plus >įederal prosecutors said in a news release that Haak had never met the first officer before that flight bound for Orlando on August 10, 2020. Southwest Airlines takes all matters related to workplace conduct very seriously, with a well-defined policy and reporting process for harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation claims. They then continued, “The event was recently brought to our attention, and we’ve cooperated with the appropriate outside agencies as they investigate. “The pilot in question is no longer employed by Southwest Airlines and departed the company last year prior to us becoming aware of the matter,” a Southwest Airlines spokeswoman said on the matter in an official statement. Due to this, the FBI and other federal agents are investigating the Southwest Airlines domestic Flight 6607 from Pennsylvania to Florida.
Though, the documents do not specify any further details about the exposure such as where it happened on the plane, how long it lasted, and who witnessed it.
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