[prairiebreeze]

What a maroon.

[EggsAckley]

Careful, there are a bunch of Freepers who are defending him, calling anyone who objects to him all kinds of names. Personally, the guy scares the stuffing out of me.

[CSM]

He'd be good for a free flight to anywhere I wanted to go. The airline probably had to hand out a bunch of vouchers! (yes, I scimmed the article and I bet that info is in it!)

[jim35]

Boy, I thought mentioning God, especially in a Christian context, was illegal in public. They should put this man in prison, or at least in a mental institution. He obviously needs some re-education, preferably at the hands of the government. Doesn't he know how damaging such mentions can be to an unprepared public?

[FormerLib]

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

I'm glad he brought this up! I'm frequently made very uncomfortable by the things pilots say during a flight. Consider what one said on my last flight, "We are at our cruising altitude of 27,000 feet and our current ground speed is just under 600 mph." Who the heck wants to be reminded of the fact that we are 5 miles up and trucking along at almost 10 miles per minute? After hearing that, you're darn right I would've raised my hand! That's just not the time to be denying one's faith!

[Stopislamnow]

church, social gatherings, airport corridors...good places to evangelize. At 30,000 feet, moving at 500 mph, not a good place to evangelize.

Unless he was trying to bait some leftists into rushing the cockpit...

[sarasota]

He must have had a big dose of fire and brimstone while on his mission. Overwhelming enthusiasm is one of the first signs.

[Homer1]

He should have asked that any Muslims on the flight raise their hands..

[Theo]

American Airlines apologizes if ...

Huh? What is it with all these non-apologies lately? "I apologize if you're an idiot. I apologize if you're a hyper-sensitive little prude. I apologize if...."

[Indie]

The first thing that would have gone through my mind if he had said this while I was aboard was that I was about to die.

[OldFriend]

Not only do we have to worry about fanatical passengers with ill intentions, now we have to fear the crew as well?

This ought to have been handled immediately and without weasel words.

UNACCEPTABLE comes to mind!

[george wythe]

Related threads

Pilot suggested passengers discuss Christianity during LA-to-New York flight
2/7/04 711 comments

Airline pilot asked Christians to share their faith with other passengers
2/8/2004 49 comments

Uproar Over Pilot's In-Flight Religion Comments
2/9/2004 87 comments

[Daus]

"Have you ever seen a grown man Christian?"

[zx2dragon]

Hmmm, a pilot wanting to know in my faith? I'd be a bit worried that he was planning on nose diving into the earth along the way. Get me out of here and refund please.

[GalaxieFiveHundred]

Pilot's wings

[leadpenny]

Craig Crawford had a good line on the Imus program this morning:

"It's not a very good argument for arming the pilots."

I forget which program it was on from last night, Norvill or Scarborough?, where they interviewed a couple of the passengers. An older gentleman said that he had confronted the Captain as he left the plane and told him he would do everything in his power to see that he was never in command of an airplane again.

[P.O.E.]

All religious speech is not forbidden. The Reverend Martin Luther King seems to be rather venerated. Is there a double standard here somewhere?

[Rainmist]

Now, I wouldn't have minded it if he asked everyone to join him in a silent prayer for our safety from one destination to the other. Nothing wrong with that. But if he started going all Dr. Dean on me about repenting or go to hell, then I'd start thinking that maybe he's having some kind of episode. After 9-11, I think I'd exit stage left and get another flight.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Pilot:

Ladies and gentleman you can now unbuckle your seat belts and relax, we have reached our cruise speed of 400 mph and leveling off at 30,000 feet, at this time I suggest you all bow your heads in prayer and hope for the best. Have a pleasant flight.

[hocndoc]

CNN lies. Why would anyone believe a word they say? Why would anyone be *inclined* to believe a story like this about a Christian?

Actually, a first hand, eye witness account by a trained reporter can be found at this website.

http://www.advocate.com/html/stories/908/908_aa.asp

The witness is an editor at a Gay and Lesbian magazine, and has no reason to report in the pilot's favor. However, the article was easy to find by a Google News search.

""Findiesen's identity has been shielded by American Airlines, but the pilot spoke candidly to The Advocate and Advocate.com editor in chief Bruce C. Steele, who identified himself to the captain at the end of the flight. Findiesen then confirmed to Steele his identity, the spelling of his name, and that his home base is Washington, D.C. At no time did Findiesen mention homosexuality or say anything antigay. During the three- to five-minute interview, he was positive and upbeat and interested only in explaining the importance of witnessing about his faith.

What Findiesen said, as best the stunned passengers could recall once they were able to move about the cabin and confer after Flight 34 took off, was this: "I just got back from a mission," Findiesen said after making a routine announcement about the plane being second in line for takeoff. "You know, they say about half of Americans are Christians. I'd just like the Christians on board to raise their hands."

In the suddenly hushed coach section of the airplane, a few nervous passengers raised one hand, most no higher than shoulder level, none above tops of the seats.

"I want everyone else on board to look around at how crazy these people are," the pilot continued, with an intonation suggesting he was using the word "crazy" in a positive, even admiring manner. Evidently addressing the non-Christian passengers, he concluded that they could "make good use of [the flight], or you can read your paper and watch the movie.""""