Pilot in Hot Water for Allegedly Using Plane as Flying Pulpit

NEW YORK (Talon News) -- A pilot asked passengers on an American Airlines flight to raise their hands if they were Christians, telling them they were "crazy" if they weren't, some of the passengers said Monday.

Passenger Jen Dorsey told CNN, "We were just at the beginning of our flight. The pilot came on to greet everyone and give his comments for the morning, and he said he'd recently been on a mission trip, and he'd like all the Christians to please raise their hands."

Also speaking on CNN, passenger Karla Austin said the pilot commented, "'If you are a Christian, raise your hand.' He said, 'If you are not, you're crazy.'"

Another passenger recalled a similar experience in an interview with WCBS-TV in New York. Amanda Nelligan told the station the pilot said those who did not raise their hands were "crazy."

The pilot asked passengers to look around at each other and use the flight wisely or "just sit back and watch the movie," Dorsey said.

The airline is investigating reports about Friday's Flight 34 from Los Angeles to New York, a company spokesman told CNN.

American Airlines said that if the incident were true it "would be against our policy."

In a statement, the airline said, "It falls along the lines of a personal level of sharing that may not be appropriate for one of our employees to do while on the job."

American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner said the pilot, whose name has not been released, denies using the word "crazy." CNN reported he told the airline that he had recently returned from a mission trip and was encouraging people to use the 4-hour plus flight to speak with other passengers about their relationship with God.

"American Airlines apologizes if anyone was made to feel uncomfortable by the comments of this pilot," Wagner told CNN.

Wagner declined to say whether the pilot has been grounded while an investigation is under way. The man, a senior pilot with the airline, did not fly again over the weekend, Wagner said.

The result of the airline's investigation will not be made public because it is an internal matter, Wagner told CNN, adding it will be "handled internally according to American Airlines procedure."

Passengers were "shocked," said Austin, adding that some reached for their mobile phones and others used the on-flight phones.

"Just given the history of what's happened on planes in this country, anything can happen at this point. So we weren't sure if something was going to happen at takeoff, if he was going to wait until JFK to do something... But there was definitely [an] implication there that we felt that something was going to happen," Austin said on CNN.

Passengers complained to the flight attendants, who relayed their concerns to the cockpit. They were reassured that they had nothing to worry about on the flight, Austin said.

Attendants also told passengers they had contacted airline officials about the matter, she said.

About 45 minutes into the flight, the pilot apologized -- but his apology focused on the crew, not the passengers, Dorsey said on CNN.

"He came on and said, 'I want to apologize for my comments earlier. I think I really threw the flight crew off a little bit, and they are getting a lot of flack for the things I said. So I want to apologize to my flight crew,'" she said.

Wagner said the pilot offered to speak after the flight with anyone who wanted to discuss his comments.

Austin said on CNN that on her way off the plane she told the pilot "he should be ashamed of himself."

BTW, read modernman's 'about' page. It's very enlightening. The quotes are very much anti-conservative, and if they're tongue-in-cheek, it looks to be for the purpose of discrediting conservatives.

Yes. I'm an evil genius. You are the first one to figure it out. To the average reader, the quotes on my profile page are funny lines about politics, Republicans and Democrats from a popular television show. However, when one looks deeper, you end up realizing that they're part of a sinister plot to snare unsuspecting FReepers and to plant the seed of doubt. They end up thinking, "Gee, if Sideshow Bob makes fun of Republicans, well, that must mean conservative views have been discredited".

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Fools, you are all falling under my spell! It's too late for you, you've read my profile page and there is no going back. Thank you, jim35, for telling more FReepers to read my profile page. You are, in fact, helping my evil plan.

End Transmission.

"...Give it a rest jim. Frankly, your combination of self-righteousness and self-proclaimed intelligence makes for lousy debate. And as for ad hominem, I don't see anyone else on this thread making accusations about "DU trolls."..."

I'd ask you to do the same, and it would be much easier for you to give it a rest, since you have many supporters who share your point of view. But since I'm the only supporter of this poor pilot, I think I won't give it a rest. As for accusations, I simply ask that you read the 'about' page, and come to your own conclusions. It certainly does raise suspicions. It's not like there aren't trolls here, and it's a common tactic for them to keep a membership for several months... if you'd go to the DU and look, they freely admit it, and boast about having months-old memberships, just to keep from getting zapped. If I'm wrong, I'm sorry, but I'm sure as heck suspicious.

Homer Humor on Beer, Food and TV

The strong must protect the Sweet.

Oh no! What have I done? I smashed open my little boy's piggy bank, and for what? A few measly cents, not even enough to buy one beer. Wait a minute, lemme count and make sure... not even close.

Television! Teacher, mother, secret lover.

Homer no function beer well without.

When will I learn? The answer to life's problems aren't at the bottom of a bottle, they're on TV!

Son, when you participate in sporting events, it's not whether you win or lose: it's how drunk you get.

Homer on Family

I'm going to the back seat of my car, with the woman I love, and I won't be back for ten minutes!

[Meeting Aliens] Please don't eat me! I have a wife and kids. Eat them!

What do we need a psychiatrist for? We know our kid is nuts.

Marge, you're as beautiful as Princess Leia and as smart as Yoda.

Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.

The only monster here is the gambling monster that has enslaved your mother! I call him Gamblor, and it's time to snatch your mother from his neon claws!

When I look at the smiles on all the children's faces, I just know they're about to jab me with something.

Homer on Religion

I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman.

I'm having the best day of my life, and I owe it all to not going to Church!

Lisa, if the Bible has taught us nothing else, and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to girls sports, such as hot oil wrestling and foxy boxing and such and such.

I'm not a bad guy! I work hard, and I love my kids. So why should I spend half my Sunday hearing about how I'm going to Hell?

Homer on Life and his 'Wisdom'

Getting out of jury duty is easy. The trick is to say you're prejudiced against all races.

It's not easy to juggle a pregnant wife and a troubled child, but somehow I managed to fit in eight hours of TV a day.

Lisa, Vampires are make-believe, like elves, gremlins, and eskimos.

I want to share something with you: The three little sentences that will get you through life. Number 1: Cover for me. Number 2: Oh, good idea, Boss! Number 3: It was like that when I got here.

Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. 14% of people know that.

Remember that postcard Grandpa sent us from Florida of that Alligator biting that woman's bottom? That's right, we all thought it was hilarious. But, it turns out we were wrong. That alligator was sexually harrassing that woman.

Old people don't need companionship. They need to be isolated and studied so it can be determined what nutrients they have that might be extracted for our personal use.

How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?

I've always wondered if there was a god. And now I know there is -- and it's me.

Homer on Work

Kill my boss? Do I dare live out the American dream?

If something goes wrong at the plant, blame the guy who can't speak English.

I'm never going to be disabled. I'm sick of being so healthy.

Classic D'Oh! Homerisms

Operator! Give me the number for 911!

Oh, so they have internet on computers now!

I like my beer cold, my TV loud and my homosexuals flaming.

[Looking at a globe map...country being Uruguay]
Hee hee! Look at this country!'You are gay.'

Bart, with $10,000, we'd be millionaires! We could buy all kinds of useful things like...love!

Well, you'll all no doubt be happy to hear that A.A. is taking this evildoer seriously, and laying down the law. Yessir, a big investigation is in the offing, to smack down the perpetrator of this vile deed! Someone pop a cork! We got him for "breach of privacy!" Apparently, this is "deeply troubling!"

AA chief apologizes for pilot's comments on Christianity

02:59 PM CST on Friday, February 13, 2004

Associated Press

FORT WORTH - The chief executive of American Airlines has apologized after a pilot suggested that non-Christian passengers on a recent flight discuss the faith with Christians.

Gerard Arpey said the airline has grounded the pilot with pay while executives investigate the incident.

Arpey said he apologized to anyone who was offended by the pilot's comments on a flight from Los Angeles to New York.

"Let me assure you that we take this very seriously and are conducting a thorough investigation,"...

...He said American Airlines "promotes an environment of respect for the diversity of all persons, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, disability,...ect

...had written to Arpey that religious belief is a personal matter and the pilot had breached the privacy of passengers... "deeply troubling."

"...The airline said the Washington-based pilot asked passengers on the Feb. 7 flight to raise their hands if they were Christian..."

The pilot did not respond to an e-mail request for an interview.

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