Narrative:

On MM/dd/90, my second day as captain, I was assigned a first officer who hates women. On the first day of our 2 day trip pairing, he kept trying to challenge my authority. Apparently he did not like a 26 yr old female being the captain. He was in his late forties to early fifties and ex-military or cia. First officer XXX started out by being rude. He criticized every decision I made. Since I was a 'baby captain,' I used the longest runway at san jose, 30L. I wanted as large a margin of safety as possible. This sometimes caused a 20 min wait. 'I guess the pilots here aren't very good if they need such a big runway,' he would mutter as he looked out his window. Or, on a crosswind landing, I had just touched down when a gust of wind lifted up the wing. 'I guess they don't teach our pilots how to land too well,' was his jibing response. Now, I know that he was the 'sniper' personality type. Now, I know how to handle passive-aggressive types like that. But then, I was bewildered. The responsibility of being captain was already taxing my faculties. While waiting for the passengers, he would start the manifest. It was well known at my company that the first officer was not to touch the manifest without the captain's permission. He kept trying to usurp my authority. I even had to grab the manifest away from him. One time in cruise we were doing the engine data trend checklist. I read out the temperature and pressure values in the correct order. 'Left egt, 650; right egt, 650. Left delta P off, 640--.' before I could continue, he rudely interrupted me. 'Not delta P, the other one!' he shot out in a hostile tone. I would never say anything like that to a captain. Even if the captain was doing it wrong, which I wasn't, it takes no effort to adjust for that. I didn't figure out until later that he was trying to run the flight. I spent all my energy defending my decisions and wrestling control back from him. The second day, just before the last leg home, he sexually harassed me. We were eating lunch in arcata. He kept staring at my chest. He looked at my eyes and then deliberately looked down at my chest. He then looked at my face to see my reaction. He knew what he was doing. Then he talked about the singer jim morrison getting, 'obscenity omitted on stage.' I was too shocked by his behavior to immediately say anything. I put some money down and left the table. He saw that I had been maintaining, although just barely, despite his jabs. He knew to do the one thing that would completely screw me up: sexual harassment. Needless to say, our passengers would have run off the plane if they had any idea of what was going on. It was obvious that he thought he could get away with anything. He was right. He was the friend of the system chief pilot, FFF, and he got away with it. Air safety was the last priority when this individual and I flew together. He was busy playing head games with me and I was busy trying to make sense out of everything. Flying safely, looking out the window for traffic, and checking the engine gauges were a low priority in the hostile environment of our flight deck. Can you imagine us dealing with an engine failure? I would be concentrating on getting the controls back from him instead of identing, verifying, and feathering. Not a good situation.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: THE FEMALE 'BABY CAPT' OF AN ACR LTT COMPLAINS THAT ON HER FIRST TRIP AS A CAPT, THE FO MADE LIFE MISERABLE FOR HER.

Narrative: ON MM/DD/90, MY SECOND DAY AS CAPT, I WAS ASSIGNED A FO WHO HATES WOMEN. ON THE FIRST DAY OF OUR 2 DAY TRIP PAIRING, HE KEPT TRYING TO CHALLENGE MY AUTHORITY. APPARENTLY HE DID NOT LIKE A 26 YR OLD FEMALE BEING THE CAPT. HE WAS IN HIS LATE FORTIES TO EARLY FIFTIES AND EX-MIL OR CIA. FO XXX STARTED OUT BY BEING RUDE. HE CRITICIZED EVERY DECISION I MADE. SINCE I WAS A 'BABY CAPT,' I USED THE LONGEST RWY AT SAN JOSE, 30L. I WANTED AS LARGE A MARGIN OF SAFETY AS POSSIBLE. THIS SOMETIMES CAUSED A 20 MIN WAIT. 'I GUESS THE PLTS HERE AREN'T VERY GOOD IF THEY NEED SUCH A BIG RWY,' HE WOULD MUTTER AS HE LOOKED OUT HIS WINDOW. OR, ON A XWIND LNDG, I HAD JUST TOUCHED DOWN WHEN A GUST OF WIND LIFTED UP THE WING. 'I GUESS THEY DON'T TEACH OUR PLTS HOW TO LAND TOO WELL,' WAS HIS JIBING RESPONSE. NOW, I KNOW THAT HE WAS THE 'SNIPER' PERSONALITY TYPE. NOW, I KNOW HOW TO HANDLE PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE TYPES LIKE THAT. BUT THEN, I WAS BEWILDERED. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF BEING CAPT WAS ALREADY TAXING MY FACULTIES. WHILE WAITING FOR THE PAXS, HE WOULD START THE MANIFEST. IT WAS WELL KNOWN AT MY COMPANY THAT THE FO WAS NOT TO TOUCH THE MANIFEST WITHOUT THE CAPT'S PERMISSION. HE KEPT TRYING TO USURP MY AUTHORITY. I EVEN HAD TO GRAB THE MANIFEST AWAY FROM HIM. ONE TIME IN CRUISE WE WERE DOING THE ENG DATA TREND CHKLIST. I READ OUT THE TEMP AND PRESSURE VALUES IN THE CORRECT ORDER. 'L EGT, 650; R EGT, 650. L DELTA P OFF, 640--.' BEFORE I COULD CONTINUE, HE RUDELY INTERRUPTED ME. 'NOT DELTA P, THE OTHER ONE!' HE SHOT OUT IN A HOSTILE TONE. I WOULD NEVER SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT TO A CAPT. EVEN IF THE CAPT WAS DOING IT WRONG, WHICH I WASN'T, IT TAKES NO EFFORT TO ADJUST FOR THAT. I DIDN'T FIGURE OUT UNTIL LATER THAT HE WAS TRYING TO RUN THE FLT. I SPENT ALL MY ENERGY DEFENDING MY DECISIONS AND WRESTLING CTL BACK FROM HIM. THE SECOND DAY, JUST BEFORE THE LAST LEG HOME, HE SEXUALLY HARASSED ME. WE WERE EATING LUNCH IN ARCATA. HE KEPT STARING AT MY CHEST. HE LOOKED AT MY EYES AND THEN DELIBERATELY LOOKED DOWN AT MY CHEST. HE THEN LOOKED AT MY FACE TO SEE MY REACTION. HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING. THEN HE TALKED ABOUT THE SINGER JIM MORRISON GETTING, 'OBSCENITY OMITTED ON STAGE.' I WAS TOO SHOCKED BY HIS BEHAVIOR TO IMMEDIATELY SAY ANYTHING. I PUT SOME MONEY DOWN AND LEFT THE TABLE. HE SAW THAT I HAD BEEN MAINTAINING, ALTHOUGH JUST BARELY, DESPITE HIS JABS. HE KNEW TO DO THE ONE THING THAT WOULD COMPLETELY SCREW ME UP: SEXUAL HARASSMENT. NEEDLESS TO SAY, OUR PAXS WOULD HAVE RUN OFF THE PLANE IF THEY HAD ANY IDEA OF WHAT WAS GOING ON. IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT HE THOUGHT HE COULD GET AWAY WITH ANYTHING. HE WAS RIGHT. HE WAS THE FRIEND OF THE SYS CHIEF PLT, FFF, AND HE GOT AWAY WITH IT. AIR SAFETY WAS THE LAST PRIORITY WHEN THIS INDIVIDUAL AND I FLEW TOGETHER. HE WAS BUSY PLAYING HEAD GAMES WITH ME AND I WAS BUSY TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OUT OF EVERYTHING. FLYING SAFELY, LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW FOR TFC, AND CHKING THE ENG GAUGES WERE A LOW PRIORITY IN THE HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT OF OUR FLT DECK. CAN YOU IMAGINE US DEALING WITH AN ENG FAILURE? I WOULD BE CONCENTRATING ON GETTING THE CTLS BACK FROM HIM INSTEAD OF IDENTING, VERIFYING, AND FEATHERING. NOT A GOOD SITUATION.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.