Court told of air hostess's disgust

A teenage flight attendant felt "dirty and disgusting" after having sex with a married pilot on an unscheduled booze-fuelled stopover, an Auckland court has been told.

But the pilot, who is fighting his dismissal, maintained she left the hotel room with "a smile on her face".

The man, who has interim name suppression, was fired from Air New Zealand subsidiary Air Nelson in June last year for serious misconduct, including sexual harassment and failing to act responsibly.

He lost a case of unjustified dismissal at the Employment Relations Authority and has appealed to the Employment Court.

The allegations stem from May 20, 2008, when the pilot, another pilot and the air hostess were due to fly from Napier to Auckland.

Bad weather caused the flight's cancellation and the three were booked into Te Pania Hotel in Napier.

Before the flight was called off, there was smutty talk related to staying overnight, including joking about sharing a room and spooning, Air Nelson lawyer Christopher Toogood, QC, said yesterday.

The two pilots bought four bottles of cheap wine, half-a-dozen Corona beer and a bag of pretzels for $60, Mr Toogood said.

The crew checked into the hotel just before 10pm and the pilot, known as plaintiff C, ordered bathrobes so they could remove their uniforms.

"A short while later, all three gathered in C's hotel room in their robes and underwear and began drinking the alcohol purchased earlier."

The crew members said they each drank two bottles of beer and three glasses of wine.

The pilots said while they were with the flight attendant there was talk on sexual topics. They also said there was "some physical contact involving slapping" and that at one point the woman exposed her breast.

For a period all three were in C's bed, but about midnight the other pilot returned to his bedroom.

The woman said "she could not recall what had happened from around midnight but that her next memory was that she found herself, around 4.30am, standing in C's room wearing only her bathrobe", Mr Toogood said.

"She went back to her room and began crying, she said she felt really dirty and disgusting."

She made a complaint of sexual violation by rape.

Police later interviewed all three crew members, but advised C that no charges would be laid unless further information came to light.

In a written statement given to the airline, the pilot gave an "intimately detailed account" of consensual sex.

He said the air hostess had initiated sex.

Afterwards she had "got up and put on her robe, said she would be back in a minute and had a smile on her face", the pilot said.

The trial is set down for five days before Judge Mark Perkins.

- © Fairfax NZ News