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Victoria Osteen and FBI have different views on what occurred aboard airliner
Houston Chronicle ^ | 12-22-05 | ANNE MARIE KILDAY

Posted on 12/23/2005 4:39:24 AM PST by truthandlife

Victoria Osteen, the wife of Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen, said an incident that delayed a Continental Airlines flight for two hours earlier this week was "a minor misunderstanding."

Osteen posted a "Letter from Victoria" on the church's official Web site Wednesday, saying the Monday incident resulted from her choice "to remove myself from the situation."

Osteen left the plane, Continental Flight 1602, with her husband and their two children. The family took another flight to Vail, Colo., where they are taking a ski vacation.

A church spokesman said the family left the plane voluntarily.

However, FBI Special Agent Luz Garcia has said that the Osteens were asked to leave the jetliner after "an altercation."

Garcia also said that Victoria Osteen "failed to comply" with instructions from a flight attendant.

The FBI said the airline contacted the agency about the incident. The agency decided not to investigate.

Continental Airlines spokeswoman Julie King declined any further comment about the incident Thursday.

"There have been various accounts of an incident that occurred on one of our flights, and I have issued earlier statements about that," King said. "We can confirm that there are no remaining issues between Continental and those passengers. ... Both parties feel no further comment is necessary."

King declined to comment on Victoria Osteen's explanation of the incident.

In her letter, which can be read at at www.lakewood.cc, Osteen stated:

"Regardless of how some have portrayed the situation, please know that it was truly a minor misunderstanding and did not escalate into what you saw or read in the news. Contrary to those reports, it was my choice to remove myself from the situation. Nonetheless, it was a most unfortunate event and I truly regret that it happened."

Osteen's letter continued, "The last thing I would ever want to do is let any of you down. And I promise you that I did not act in any way that would cast a bad light on you, my family, Lakewood Church or our Lord Jesus Christ. I value the position that God has placed me in and I can assure you that I will always walk in love and integrity. While I am not perfect, I will always seek to be a peacemaker and seek the high road."

The incident apparently stemmed from a spilled liquid on Osteen's seat in the first class section of the airplane. A church spokesman said the spill was not cleaned up to Osteen's satisfaction, and the family left the plane voluntarily.

Joel Osteen is a nationally known author of self-help books, including the best-selling Your Best Life Now. He became pastor of Lakewood Church in 1999. The church, in the former Compaq Center, is one of the nation's largest with more than 30,000 weekly participants in church services.


TOPICS: Extended News
KEYWORDS: continental; houston; lakewood; megachurch; osteen; platichairedfrauds; victoriassecret
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Usually. I'm a nurse. We wear gloves:')


281 posted on 12/23/2005 5:08:45 PM PST by CindyDawg (Merry Christmas to all and to all a good evening)
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To: CindyDawg

A barf bag would do for an improvised glove.


282 posted on 12/23/2005 5:10:21 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Some people that I know would need the barf bag, if they had to clean up, alright:')


283 posted on 12/23/2005 5:12:01 PM PST by CindyDawg (Merry Christmas to all and to all a good evening)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Seriously, the airlines have people with the right tools and training to do that. You shouldn't be cleaning seats, or any other equipment that might have body fluids on it, for them.


284 posted on 12/23/2005 5:15:16 PM PST by CindyDawg (Merry Christmas to all and to all a good evening)
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To: CindyDawg

Maybe the stew would get incensed and file a grievance. Good.


285 posted on 12/23/2005 5:18:05 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Lost you on that one:')


286 posted on 12/23/2005 5:20:28 PM PST by CindyDawg (Merry Christmas to all and to all a good evening)
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To: CindyDawg

Is it definitive that urine rather than a cola?.... If so where are you getting that info?


287 posted on 12/23/2005 5:20:39 PM PST by deport (Merry Christmas; Feliz Navidad; Buon Natale; Joyeux Noël to one and all and Happy Holidays to.)
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To: deport

It might have a little bit of someone's spit in it.


288 posted on 12/23/2005 5:21:13 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck
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To: deport

Nobody knows. Someone came up with soda. I thought alcohol logical but an airline worker posted that people pee on the seats a lot. I don't even know where the wet seat came from. This is a live story that seems to be writing itself, I think:')


289 posted on 12/23/2005 5:24:15 PM PST by CindyDawg (Merry Christmas to all and to all a good evening)
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To: sinkspur

IIRC, he doesn't take a salary from the church. He lives off of his writing income.


290 posted on 12/23/2005 5:25:02 PM PST by BnBlFlag (Deo Vindice/Semper Fidelis)
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To: CindyDawg

Someone call the Osteens and ask them.


291 posted on 12/23/2005 5:27:41 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck
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To: bonfire
When did you live in Texas? Were you in Houston? I ask 'cause I've been in Houston all my life, and I can't remember a time when there weren't "Lakewood: The Oasis of Love" commercials on TV.

(Of course, my reliable memory only goes back to the early '80s, when I hit my teen years. Things I remember before then are naturally suspect.)
292 posted on 12/23/2005 5:31:13 PM PST by Xenalyte (Tom Cruise is in my closet and he won't come out.)
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To: CindyDawg
From another article after the plane arrived in Vail....
Click
A couple of first-class passengers saw at least part of what happened.

"As I understand it, she had some drink spill. That started a series of issues with the crew," passenger Herbert Towning said.

"Mr. Osteen was very calm, very professional," passenger Barbara Griffith said. "It's sad."

Another passenger, who didn't want to give her name, agreed with Griffith's account.

"She just had attitude," the unnamed passenger said of Victoria Osteen. "They took her off, and she never came back. Her husband went out, then he came back and got their stuff. An hour-and-a-half later, we were leaving."


293 posted on 12/23/2005 5:51:57 PM PST by deport (Merry Christmas; Feliz Navidad; Buon Natale; Joyeux Noël to one and all and Happy Holidays to.)
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To: frgoff

If you have a problem with him selling the book, just don't buy it. I bought a copy for a Christmas present today however.
As Brother Dave Gardner used to say: "Different strokes for different folks".
And for your information, Lakewood Church is a very positive influence in Houston.


294 posted on 12/23/2005 5:59:47 PM PST by BnBlFlag (Deo Vindice/Semper Fidelis)
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To: Mother of the Bride

Thank you for that explanation - I have felt that there was something missing here in the news reports - I also have family in aviation and I know that the way all this was handled was not good - and everyone could have made better decisions from Mrs. Osteen to the flight attendant to the captain of the plane. And yes, a person who flies quite a bit can ask to be upgraded to first class.

All these people who jump to conclusions do so because either they don't understand how airlines work - or if there had been an altercation - as alluded to in the initial reports - the FBI would have filed charges. These accusers have already shown their small minds to acuse Mrs. Victoria of something they have no reference for - that she spilled her "vodka drink." It just shows their ignorance and their petty envy. If they have proof of that, why don't they post it instead of just continuing the accusation?


295 posted on 12/23/2005 6:03:49 PM PST by Anita1 (You can't argue against the truth!)
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To: truthandlife
The incident apparently stemmed from a spilled liquid on Osteen's seat in the first class section of the airplane. A church spokesman said the spill was not cleaned up to Osteen's satisfaction, and the family left the plane voluntarily.

Joel Osteen is a nationally known author of self-help books...

Say what? Couldn't he have done a little self help and gotten a towel to clean the seat to his satisfaction then?

296 posted on 12/23/2005 6:08:48 PM PST by A CA Guy (God Bless America, God bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
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To: deport; CindyDawg

From the link:

"She violently ran towards the cockpit, scaring everyone around her," said passenger Knicky Van Slyke. "Everyone was terrified about what was going on. And a bunch of flight attendants ran up and had to restrain her. She was banging on the door."


297 posted on 12/23/2005 6:16:11 PM PST by indcons (FReepmail indcons to join the MilHist ping list)
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To: indcons

You believe this?


298 posted on 12/23/2005 6:25:11 PM PST by CindyDawg (Merry Christmas to all and to all a good evening)
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To: CindyDawg

Honestly, I don't know....it comes from the same source and has a named passenger. As you said earlier, this story is writing itself (because there is more to it?)

That said, I stand by what I said earlier - airlines don't displease first class passengers out readily. It makes no business sense. Even if one stewardess had acted funny, the captain and others would have tried to smooth things over.


299 posted on 12/23/2005 7:03:33 PM PST by indcons (FReepmail indcons to join the MilHist ping list)
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To: yarddog
I don't begrudge any preacher a good living but I agree that anyone who uses God's money for a lavish lifestyle is doing wrong.

He earned that lavish lifestyle whether you like it or not. To me, God's money is the money in the collection plate. If he was living off the money from the collection plate, then I might argue he's doing wrong, but there is nothing wrong with living a lavish lifestyle off a best-selling book.

300 posted on 12/23/2005 7:22:08 PM PST by BigSkyFreeper (Luke 2 : 8-14)
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