Wife of Houston minister delays flight to Vail
Accounts differ why Joel and Victoria Osteen got off the plane
Scott N. Miller
December 20, 2005
http://www.vaildaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Dato=20051220&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=112200023&Ref=AR&Show=0&template=printart
GYPSUM - Elizabeth Vail, her husband and two children sat on the tarmac at Houston's airport Monday and waited. Then they waited some more.
After nearly two hours, the Continental Airlines plane took off for Eagle County, minus four passengers: Victoria Osteen, her husband, Joel, and the couple's two children. The Osteens lead Lakewood Church in Houston, which the Web site belief.net.com calls America's largest.
According to passengers, Victoria Osteen was asked to leave the plane after an altercation with the plane's flight crew. Luz Garcia, an agent at the FBI's office in Houston said no charges will be filed. But, she added, "She failed to comply with the flight attendant's instructions and they were asked to leave the flight."
Church spokesman Don Illof said the family was skiing in Vail on Tuesday.
But the delay in Monday's flight left other passengers annoyed.
"We sat on the ground for two hours," said Vail, who was headed to the family condo in Snowmass. "They kept telling us to stay seated with our seatbelts on, that the flight would be leaving in a few minutes. They wouldn't tell us what happened. They didn't tell us until almost the end of the flight."
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."
It was a long wait on an airplane full of families heading for Christmas vacations.
"It was a lot of families on the flight," Vail said, while riding herd on her own two small children while her husband got their bags. "It was very frustrating."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
What on earth could the flight attendants ask that Victoria couldn't comply with? That is crazy! Sounds to me like she is a b*tch!
Sounds like Joel's wife had a high-maintainence wigout. Feel sorry for him.
They pull in millions and live the high life, so why should anyone be surprised that they act like Hollywood celebrities? Now, how that meshes with Jesus's direction to "take up your cross and follow Me," is problematical.
"She had an attitude" with the a flight attendent?
Listen, once I was on the plane with my sweet husband and two sons. It was a long flight and the kids were young. Our hope was that they would sleep through the trip. Blankets and pillows are short and I gave my husband the missin of securing blankets and pillows for the kids.
An Asian flight attendent came up to us and made fun of him for "hoarding" blankets for his family. She made some white male slurs. Since she, being Asian with a 'tude, I chalked it up to minority racism... I egged her on...I wanted her to show her true colors and she did. She thought anti-white male racism was so funny. We laughed AT her total ignorance, but we could have gotten into the opposition mode.
She thought it was so funny until I dropped the punch line that she was an asshole and to move along before I slapped her silly for being such as an asshole to my husband. I told her my husband is a Christian and that he would not put a racist in her place; rather trust that life would help out with justice.
But I warned her, don't try her racial superiority number on a man of Hispanic or African decent, because they would probably kick her ass.
So...we need more to this story. Was the flight attendent targeting this couple because they knew they were Christians? I would not doubt it. Flight attendents are Union members filled with obnoxious Left wingnut slogans.
So, a drink was spilled. I'd like to know the rest of the story. Why does it take two hours to either clean up the spill or to put off two adults and two children?
Maybe she has claustrophobia and freaked out when the doors closed. It's possible.