Posted on 12/21/2005 6:53:14 AM PST by truthandlife
A dispute involving the wife of Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen delayed holiday travel plans for a planeload of passengers, but few details were released Tuesday.
At least some people aboard the Continental Airlines flight were less than pleased after waiting about two hours at Bush Intercontinental Airport while the Osteens left the plane and their luggage was removed, said a woman who witnessed the incident.
"She was just abusive," said Sheila Steele, who said she was sitting behind Victoria Osteen. "She was just like one of those divas."
A church spokesman said the couple and their children left the plane voluntarily after the incident Monday and took another flight to Vail, Colo.
However, FBI Special Agent Luz Garcia said the Osteens were asked to leave the jetliner after an "altercation." She said Victoria Osteen "failed to comply" with instructions from the flight attendant. She added that no one was detained.
The incident occurred in the first class section on Flight 1602. Continental spokeswoman Julie King declined to give details.
The Osteens could not be reached for comment, and the Chronicle was unable to contact other passengers to corroborate Steele's version of events. However, the Vail Daily newspaper reported similar accounts of the incident from other first-class passengers.
Passenger Barbara Griffith told the Colorado paper that Joel Osteen was "very calm, very professional."
Lakewood Church spokesman Donald Iloff said Victoria Osteen contacted a flight attendant after noticing that a liquid had been spilled on her seat. The spill apparently was not cleaned up to her satisfaction, Iloff said. The family left the plane voluntarily and took another flight, Iloff said.
The airline issued a statement saying corporate policy forbids identifying passengers.
"There have been various accounts regarding events that occurred on one of our flights," the statement added. "We can confirm that there are no remaining issues between (Continental Airlines) and those passengers, and therefore, both parties feel no further comment is necessary."
Steele said Victoria Osteen was upset about liquid on her pull-down tray and asked a flight attendant to have it cleaned. When the attendant, who was carrying paperwork to the cockpit, told her she couldn't do it immediately, Osteen replied, "Fine, get me a stewardess who can," Steele said.
She said Victoria Osteen pushed a flight attendant and tried to get into the cockpit. Passengers quoted in the Colorado paper did not address those details.
Soon after, authorities were called to the plane, she said, although it was not clear Tuesday whether they were airline officials.
Garcia said Continental officials contacted the FBI about the incident. The agency decided not to investigate.
"It was quickly resolved between the airline and the Osteens," Garcia said.
Steele said she and other passengers were upset that they had to wait about two hours while the Osteens' baggage was removed from the plane.
Joel Osteen is a nationally known author of self-help books.
He became pastor of Lakewood Church in October 1999, building it into what some observers say is the largest church in the U.S.
Victoria Osteen also preaches and plays a significant role at the church.
The congregation in July moved into the 16,000-seat Compaq Center.
The Osteen family is not of the "humble preacher" variety.
It sounds like he has been drawing people to Joel. It's a seeker-sensitive church. IOW you don't have to be a Christian to attend the church. What little I have heard of him (on BET), he doesn't preach a really meaty message. It's not horrible but it's more of a performance than true worship. If it gets people interested in Christianity, more power to it. But I imagine a lot of people are showing up just because of Joel and the Lakewood experience.
She is very involved in the church leadership, she isn't just his wife.
Some flight attendents can be b*tches or in the case of male attendents, b*tchy. When a customer complains about something, they should be accomodated immediately.
Anyone that uses commercial airlines can be sympathetic to the frustraton of the lady that was ejected from the plane.
That's an interesting confession! Now what are they actually confessing, other than their "potential"?
There's a hint of "prosperity gospel" in Osteen, which I loathe. Material success is just as often a curse as it is a blessing. Last I checked, the gospels do not portray Jesus as extolling material wealth as a reward for faith.
The other passengers didn't really address Victoria. They kinda skirted around that to talk about Joel. FA's rarely stop a plane for no reason. It had to be something bad to cost that company that much money.
AMEN
Agreed.
Do you know how much
first class tickets cost? Airlines
get so much income
from first class tickets,
they sure as heck should clean trays!
I'd have made a scene,
but not big enough
to get kicked off the airplane.
First class should be clean.
The princess and the pea comes to mind.
Not during takeoff procedures. Safety overrules everything at that point. Anyway, one of the customers on 9/11 cut an FA's throat.
Perhaps not her pre-flight martinis though? Maybe one too many is the secret to this tale.
Why priests don't get married.
Other parts of the story say she was upset at liquid spilled on her SEAT. It was Steele who said it was liquid on the tray.
How could there be liquid on the tray? The tray would have been folded up into the seat in front, and the liquid would have run off.
If it was in her seat, She would have had to have STOOD in the aisle, while other passengers were pushing past, until someone came and cleaned up the seat so she could sit without getting her clothes messy. She may not have known the attendent had important things to do, and her request for another attendent to take care of it is not unreasonable.
1st class passengers pay a lot extra for their flights, and all they get for it is better service and bigger seats. They expect that for their extra HUNDREDS of dollars, they should get pretty good service. If I paid $500 extra just so I could be waited on for 3 hours, I wouldn't expect to be blown off, or expect to have to sit in a wet seat.
JMO, Mrs. Osteen thinks she is the new "Queen" Victoria.
Jesus had no problem with variety as long as they were teaching ultimately about Him. He said "He who is not against us is with us."
There seems to be some evidence that Victoria or her kids spilled a drink. That's what started the whole thing. The plane was moving from what I heard.
There's no way that any substantial amount of liquid was on the tray when it was deployed. It would have dripped out when it was put away.
She forgot she was a preacher's wife. As such she has a special obligation,
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