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.

[jim35]

"...Using your power as the pilot of an airplane to advance your religious beliefs on a captive audience is, in my view, rude..."

Well, ok. No, it's rude for other people to prohibit Christians from publicly espousing their religion. It wasn't a revival, it was one comment, and one question. Maybe you're just troubled that it was Christian in nature because you've forgotten that God wants Christians to share the good word. If this had been a muslim, I would have been very shocked about it, because we're at war with muslims. That would have been inappropriate on a completely different level, one of patriotism. Any other religion would have been ok, though.

[Bella_Bru]

This pilot, like any other American, has a God

I just know you'd be this supportive had the pilot been a Rosicrucian, Muslim, Hindu, or Shaman. No, you wouldn't be screaming boycott, or anything like that, would you? Or is it ok just because you and this pilot share the same religious beliefs?

[jim35]

"...There's an appropriate time and place for "religious talk". This flight wasn't it..."

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?

[PBRSTREETGANG]

In any event, I would have been comforted on that flight, knowing the pilot was christian.

And if the pilot had said, "I've recently returned from Mecca. Praised be to Allah. If you're not a Muslim you're crazy", how comforted would you feel then? If you think it's OK to say one, then it's OK to say the other

[jim35]

"...Yes, I have a list of approved topics:"

I suggest you begin by submitting it to John McCain. He's really good at this type of prohibition. Are any other employees to be limited to these topics, or just pilots? Should I begin burning my copy of the constitution now, or wait until these new restrictions actually take place?

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

[whattajoke]

So, do you have that list of approved topics yet?

Yes. Flight time, when we can walk about the cabin and/or operate electronic devices, weather in arrival city, gate info, and perhaps some interesting sites out the windows and some well wishes. That wasn't too difficult.

You act as if this pilot held a revival during the flight...

He kinda did, didn't he? His intent, apparently, was to "witness" to heathen non christian travellers such as myself.

...of asking one question and making one Christian comment.

Calling non christians "crazy," is not very christian from what I know.

[Daus]

"Have you ever seen a grown man Christian?"

[jim35]

"...I just know you'd be this supportive had the pilot been a Rosicrucian, Muslim, Hindu, or Shaman. No, you wouldn't be screaming boycott,..."

I would indeed be this supportive, with the exception of a muslim. As I've said, this exclusion would be because we are at war with that particular sect. 3 years ago, I wouldn't even have made that exclusion. 9/11 changed that. And how do you know that we (pilot and me) share that same beliefs? For all I know, he could be a Methodist!

[jackibutterfly]

You know, that's what's so sad. We were ALL created to worship God, AND that should be as natural to us as breathing. This "keeping God" out of our public life IS insane-He should be 1st and foremost in everyones' lives! Everything else should be 2nd.

[Bella_Bru]

Then you are an oddity. Most here would be screaming til they puked had the pilot been anything other than Christian.

[jim35]

"...If he said it once the plane had landed and everyone was casually walking to get their luggage, or in the coffee shop before they boarded, it would be completely different..."

Well, you may actually have a point here. If the context of his message led to the belief that you'd better be a Christian, because this plane will only make it by the grace of God, then I would tend to agree that it was ill conceived.

[proud American in Canada]

"I suggest you begin by submitting it to John McCain. He's really good at this type of prohibition."

First off, I couldn't agree more with you on CFR.

"Are any other employees to be limited to these topics, or just pilots?"

I think pilots and co-pilots -- those in control of an airplane in flight -- should suffice.

"Should I begin burning my copy of the constitution now"

As you know, passenger airlines are private entities, not the government. Therefore, for a passenger airline to tell its pilots to refrain from discussing religion during flight does not violate the First Amendment because there is no "state action."

[John H K]

I think the Taliban has openings, you should check into it.

[proud American in Canada]

"Yes. Flight time, when we can walk about the cabin and/or operate electronic devices, weather in arrival city, gate info, and perhaps some interesting sites out the windows and some well wishes. That wasn't too difficult."

Yep... perfect! Please see my #53 and #73. :)

[Bella_Bru]

This "keeping God" out of our public life IS insane-He should be 1st and foremost in everyones' lives! Everything else should be 2nd.

That's a really lovely sentiment. Of course, then it comes down to which religion and which God. And even if you narrowed it down to the Christian one, you'd still have to fight over the whole Catholic/Protestant thing. And later down the road, had you decided it'd be from a Prostestant standpoint, you'd get the fight of, "Your sect is not Christian enough". So you see, it's easier to just pray to yourself, like most of us do, and quit getting in other people's faces.

[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.

[jim35]

"...Calling non christians "crazy," is not very christian from what I know..."

Then you know very little about Christianity. According to the Bible, you'd HAVE to be crazy not to be a Christian. The Bible is full of stories about what happens to those who deny that He is the Lord. Read a few chapters if you want to know what is "very Christian." I sure love hearing about what is Christian behavior from non-Christians.

[freeeee]

So just exactly what should we prohibit a pilot from talking about?

Who is this "we"? Government? We have free speech rights so government has no say. What the pilot can talk about is up to his employer. Which brings us to....

Who needs governmental prohibition on free speech, when you've got business to do it for you?

The airline as much right to fire the pilot as Jim Robinson has to ban people from this board and for the exact same reason: You have the right to free speech, you have no right to compel someone to provide you a forum.

The pilot called some of his paying customers crazy, for nothing more than their closely held personal beliefs. He has every legal right to do so, and his employer has every right to send him home.

[jim35]

"...Then you are an oddity..."

No, I believe that you are projecting the behavior of others here. No other religion is restricted from the public forum the way Christianity is in our modern society. Try paying attention to current trends and affairs, my FRiend.