Pilot in Hot Water for Allegedly Using Plane as Flying Pulpit

Talon News / GOP USA ^ | Feb. 10, 2004 | Jeremy Reynalds

[prairiebreeze]

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.'"

Dorsey agreed that the pilot had called non-Christians "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."

Austin said no passengers raised their hands.

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.

Wagner would not say if the pilot had been scheduled to fly this week.

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."

"He just nodded and looked to the ground, and that was it," she said.

[libravoter]

Matthew 6:6

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

[John H K]

And, of course, all the nitwits supporting this moron pilot are PERFECTLY free to scrape together their $45.17 or whatever they have saved up between them and start a Christian Airline, and advertise that their pilots will evangelize continuously during their flight.

[John H K]

So you think calling non-Christians "crazy" is an effective means of converting them to Christianity?

[prairiebreeze]

I guess I need to do more extensive searches with keywords.
Sorry for the duplication.

Prairie

[freeeee]

Absolutely! And if they encourage their pilots to fly armed, I'd gladly be one of their customers.

[swarthyguy]

>>So you think calling non-Christians "crazy" is an effective means of converting them to Christianity?


About as effective as calling those who disagree with some of the Administrations's policies, well you know the labels and names.

Took me a long time to come up with an effective retort to "have you been saved?" - Not from you.

[jim35]

"...to refrain from discussing religion during flight does not violate the First Amendment because there is no "state action..."

True. But it doesn't make it any easier to swallow. So, submit your list to the airline, and hope for the best. Maybe we can make pilots a special group which is limited to discussing the weather. I will then send them my list, on topics which I insist that they DO discuss, with Christianity at the top. Somehow, I'm betting I'd lose.

[freeeee]

This "keeping God" out of our public life IS insane

A privately owned airline is not "public".

Let me demonstrate: If you are naked on the street, you are cited for public nudity. If an airline has a naked flight, you are not. Why? When on a privately owned airline, you are not in public.

[jackibutterfly]

Well, THAT would never work, as I am a devout Catholic. YOU don't believe we ALL should acknowledge GOD? I guess you also don't believe in Him, no? Why would you be uncomfortable with bringing God into conversations with others? Why do we have to stifle that? It sure is curious. I'm surprised that the 1st thing you thought of when I suggested that talking about God should be natural is the Taliban - as if they are the only ones who acknowledge God. Of course, the god they acknowledge is, from what I understand, the moon god, NOT our Creator.

[jim35]

"Matthew 6:6"

Spare me the self-serving Bible quotes. Just try and tell me with a straight face that the Bible says we should not try to spread the message of Christianity. I dare you.

[jackibutterfly]

Whoops, I guess I missed that - I just assumed it was on a regular flight. But, still, why do we have to cringe when God, or Jesus, is mentioned? As I told EggsAckley, mentioning and discussing God should be as natural as breathing. I believe our spirit is as much a part of us as our mind or body, that we were created that way.

[Born Conservative]

Which time would that be? In church, or in the confines of your home, exclusively? Or are there any public venues in which you would be willing to tolerate religious speech?

In church is fine, and it's also fine in one's home. However, given the context in which this happened (captive audience on an airplane 1 1/2 years after 9/11), I don't think this was the time or place. But for some odd reason, I don't think that you are open-minded enough to see this point.

[jim35]

"...If you are naked on the street, you are cited for public nudity..."

You can be sited for public nudity if you're naked on your front lawn. This is still "the public." Get with the program.

[freeeee]

You can be sited for public nudity if you're naked on your front lawn.

Not if it's unviewable from the street.

[jackibutterfly]

And, darn, I have to leave. Can't continue this fascinating discussion. Chat with you all later?

[California74]

Any christian who did not raise their hand on that flight should be ashamed.

Luke 9:23-26
23Then he (Jesus) said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? 26If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

[codyjacksmom]

"Not one single person raised their hand on the flight"

The pilot didn't force anyone. It was their own choice on whether to proclaim their faith.

As far as it being "scary,goofy,insulting,personal and possibly dangerous", hearing a man that had just come back from a missions trip all excited about spreading the word would be a really nice surprise compared to all the negative there is in the world today.AMEN(when praising the Lord, it's always correctly placed!)

[jim35]

"...But for some odd reason, I don't think that you are open-minded enough to see this point..."

Yeah, it must be a very odd reason indeed. So, because I'm FOR freedom of religious expression, in nearly every form, I'm the one who's NOT open-minded. Interesting conclusion. You are right in your conclusion, of course. I'm not very open-minded at all, and am in fact often judgemental. But this isn't because I believe in freedom of religious expression. It's because I believe in certain moral and ethical boundaries, and find fault when they are broken.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

...hearing a man that had just come back from a missions trip all excited about spreading the word would be a really nice surprise

And if he had just returned from his hadj to Mecca?

[fml]

Would you be defending him so much if he had asked for the Jews or Islamics to share their views or are you in his corner because he was Christian? I don't want a pilot, teacher, waitress or neighbor to trap me into a converstion meant to defend my religious believes or try to sway someone else in theirs. As someone said in another thread and mothers have been saying for years - religion and politics are not topics to discuss in polite company.