Flight Opts pilot arrested

[jetwash]

Pilot Accused of Sexual Assault
Man Contends Encounter Was Consensual

POSTED: 5:16 am EDT August 3, 2005
UPDATED: 2:23 pm EDT August 3, 2005
JONESBORO -- A commercial freelance pilot was in custody Wednesday after he was accused of sexually assaulting a teenaged girl Tuesday in the stairwell of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Michael Darren Matthews, 39, of Daytona, Fla., was being held at the Clayton County Jail in connection with the alleged assault of the 16-year-old girl, who was not identified. Matthews was expected to appear Wednesday afternoon in a Clayton court for a preliminary hearing.
Atlanta police were called to the C Concourse Tuesday afternoon after the teen asked for help. The girl told authorities that she was sexually assaulted in a stairwell after getting off of a plane.
She was taken to Hughes-Spalding Hospital for treatment after the incident. It was not immediately clear if the stairwell was restricted to public access.
Authorities said the man was on his way to Cleveland, Ohio to pilot a corporate plane and was traveling through Atlanta. The man was employed by a firm called Flight Options. The two apparently met on the flight from Florida to Atlanta, and were seat mates.
Authorities said the Matthews was wearing his pilot's uniform, which was confiscated by investigators, at the time of the alleged incident.
Sources told Channel 2 Action News that the man contends the encounter was consensual.
The grandmother of Matthews told reporters in Florida that she was shocked by the allegations.
"I know that a lot of kids blame things on people," said Barbara Matthews. "I hope this is the problem. Maybe it's not. I don't know. I'm not the kind of grandmother who would protect him if he's done wrong. He's certainly old enough to know better."

 

[SheGaveMeClap]

Whoops. We are promoting non-federal offenses at our company. Sexual harassment is okay, but smuggling X on our airplanes is bad. He was practicing for all the tail walking around hdq. in CGF.



Note: Sexual harassment is not okay. Flight Options doesn't condone committing crimes. I'm just making fun of this guy because he TOTALLY deserves it.

P.S. Damm, he's a junior guy too, so I won't move up any seniority numbers when he's fired.

EDIT: This post was COMLETELY in jest. EVEN the P.S. part. For those of you Options guys who don't have a sense of humor (you know who you are, ahem, Guido) I WAS KIDDING. Lighten up. Your job is starting to ruin you.

 

[jetwash]

CE-525 SIC
# 775 on the list.

save you guys some time looking it up.

 

[SheGaveMeClap]

Ha, Ha, Ha!! I was thinking about posting it, but decided not to.

 

[batsky2000]

I used to commute from DAB also, but I came from travel air, and DAB is a Tier 3 airport, how did this guy get DAB since he was not former TA, if I remember, DAB guys at FO had to commute out of MCO, too bad, he would have had to commute out of MCO and now he will have an extended vacation with his Grandma, I guess he will be using Grannies SS money to live off of with her

Here is a link that has a mug photo of him: http://www.news4jax.com/news/4802642/detail.html

 

[SheGaveMeClap]

Something tells me if he's convicted, he won't be needing Gramma's money to survive. Some street smarts and self defense would come in handy in the Georgia state prison. Although, as a teen-rapist those skills probably won't come in very handy either. Either way, he's facked.

 

[El Chupacabra]

I am having a hard time imagining how this happened in a public stairway at ATL.


But here is an interesting part:

In a four-minute hearing today, Matthews told a skeptical judge he could not afford an attorney despite his occupation as a pilot.

“I know most people think [pilots] make a $100,000 a year, but it's not like that where I work. I make $36,000 a year divided by 12,” Matthews said.

​

 

[miles otoole]

I am having a hard time imagining how this happened in a public stairway at ATL.


But here is an interesting part:

In a four-minute hearing today, Matthews told a skeptical judge he could not afford an attorney despite his occupation as a pilot.


“I know most people think [pilots] make a $100,000 a year, but it's not like that where I work. I make $36,000 a year divided by 12,” Matthews said.


​

He can certainly afford it. Most lawyers today take Amex and Visa.

 

[batsky2000]

The sad part for this guy is that if he is convicted of rape, he will go to prison, get raped himeself in prison from guys who need a new boyfriend, and when he gets out he will have to list himself as a rapist with the police dept. no matter where he decides to live due to federal law, this will stick with him for life, what a way to mess up your life and career

And for what it is worth, most inmates hate rapist

Flight Options seems to have the cream of the crop, I remember there being 2 other pilots who where arrested a few months back, they were smuggling in drugs from Germany while working for the ANG, and one of them was a captain for options

 

[FracCapt]

I used to commute from DAB also, but I came from travel air, and DAB is a Tier 3 airport, how did this guy get DAB since he was not former TA, if I remember, DAB guys at FO had to commute out of MCO

A few of us FO guys used to commute out of DAB long before the merger.

According to another article, his address(I assume on his certificates) was listed as DAB, but he lived in TLH or PCB area....or somewhere up in the panhandle. I forget exactly where it said.

 

[waka]

Flight Options seems to have the cream of the crop, I remember there being 2 other pilots who where arrested a few months back, they were smuggling in drugs from Germany while working for the ANG, and one of them was a captain for options

What does that say about the "cream of the crop" in the ANG?

 

[batsky2000]

Not Much, Being that I came from the military myself and left 13 years ago, we had similar types in the actve military as well

 

[FracCapt]

Flight Options seems to have the cream of the crop

You were at Options too.....what does that say about you?

 

[leardawg]

Although at face value it doesn't look good for this guy, we ought to keep in mind that he's innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. I find it very hard to believe that he would actually assault someone in a place like ATL, in uniform, and with someone he had been sitting next to and talking to for an entire airplane flight. I know this guy from my pre-FLOPS job. Although I didn't know him well enough to attest to his character, he seemed like a normal and likable guy. The ladies found him rather attractive (our gals in dispatch swooned over him, and my wife referred to him as "that cute guy who looks like the lead singer of Sugar Ray). It's possible, just possible, that he wound up sitting next to some psycho who's looking for attention. He may also be guilty of nothing more than atrociously poor judgement if he did, indeed, go with her to some isolated spot for a quickie. She may look older than 16, if that is her actual age. He supposedly said that whatever happened was consensual (implying that something did actually happen of a sexual nature). I've seen plenty of instances where initial press reports or other supposedly reliable sources are completely wrong.

If he did indeed force himself upon her against her will, then my heart goes out to her, and he deserves what he's got coming. Maybe, however, we ought to wait for more details to come out before rushing to judgement on this guy. It's a very serious charge, and a man's entire future is at stake. Imagine the nightmare if anyone of us were falsely accused of something like this.

 

[buttercup]

Just another example of why you never sh*t where you eat

 

[El Chupacabra]

His career? Consensual or not ... he is done. Doing a 16 year old ... in uniform at the ATL airport....

He is done.

 

[dime line]

A little off the subject but,talking about "cream of the crop" pilots at Options look at our new Higher Plane Award winner

 

[leardawg]

His career? Consensual or not ... he is done. Doing a 16 year old ... in uniform at the ATL airport....

He is done.

IF he's guilty. Even if it were proven that the sex was consensual, and the girl was older that 16, it was in a public place, he was in uniform, and on company time. I wouldn't hesitate to fire him in a heartbeat. If it was rape and/or statutory rape, his career is the least of his worries. My point is there is the possibility, however slight, that nothing of the sort actually happened, and he is simply the victim of a troubled young mind. It's happened before.

 

[Some Dude]

I didn't know he was found guilty yet. Did they catch him in the act? Hell we had a owner accuse a pilot of sexual misconduct at NJA. Let's wait for all the facts in this case.

 

[El Chupacabra]

OK the press may have got it wrong but I think I read HE claims it was consensual.

"Sources told Channel 2 Action News that the man contends the encounter was consensual."
​

So if that is correct... yes he is done. He does not have to be found guilty. Claiming it was consensual is admission it happened.