This is your captain, welcome aboard!

[Jobber of the Week 0]

NEW YORK (CNN) -- 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.

 

The airline is investigating reports about Friday's Flight 34 from Los Angeles, California, to New York, a company spokesman said.

 

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."

 

Airline spokesman Tim Wagner said the pilot denies using the word "crazy." He told the airline he recently had returned from a mission trip and was encouraging people to use the 4 1/2-hour flight to speak with passengers about their relationship with God, Wagner said. The pilot's name has not been released.

 

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

 

Some of the passengers said the pilot's remarks made them uneasy.

 

Passenger Jen Dorsey told CNN's "American Morning," "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 on "American Morning," passenger Karla Austin said, "He said, 'If you are a Christian, raise your hand.' He said, 'If you are not, you're crazy.' "

 

Dorsey nodded her head in agreement that the pilot had called non-Christians "crazy."

 

Another passenger recounted 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.

 

Airline spokesman Wagner declined to say whether the pilot has been relieved of duty while an investigation is under way. The man, a senior pilot with the airline, did not fly again over the weekend, Wagner said.

 

The spokesman also declined to say whether 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 said, adding it will be "handled internally according to American Airlines procedure."

 

Passengers were "shocked," said Austin. Some reached for their mobile phones and others used the on-flight phones, she said.

 

"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 (John F. Kennedy) to do something," Austin said. "But there was definitely implication there that we felt that something was going to happen."

 

Passengers complained to the flight attendants, who relayed their concerns to the cockpit and who then reassured them 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.

 

"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.

 

On her way out, Austin said she told him that "he should be ashamed of himself."

 

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

 

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/02/09/airli...nity/index.html

[Downhome 0]

Good lord, what exactly prompted him to do something so stupid?

[Guest Ghettoman]

Some people just can't help but feel close to jesus 30000 feet up.

[2GOLD 0]

It would have been better if he said, "You better be, cause when I nose dive this baby from 30,000 feet and try to recover just for fun, you'll be praying to god I can."

 

Or maybe "Good afternoon, let's try something fun this take off. Everyone, take off your seatbelts and see if you hit the ceiling!"

[Guest Danny Dubya v 2.0]

And what is so crazy about not giving a shit? It don't add up, not even in their skulls. I can't see most born-again-types thinking that non-christians have mental issues, just that they're morally deficient despite being mostly well-behaved, or whatever.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I have to be honest, I'm a Christian and I would've been heading for the first door like everyone else on this trip. I'm thinking this guy was having a nervous breakdown or something.

[Guest SP-1]

Heh.

 

Not the evangelistic approach I'd have taken, but eh. Nobody died, was maimed, harmed, or put down. Christ was preached.

 

That's pretty funny, though.

[Guest Ghettoman]

I think we'd all of been a bit more accepting if he simply yelled 'praise allaaaaaaaaah!!!' and dipped the plane for 3 seconds, came back straight and said 'just kidding!'.

 

I would of liked that.

[Guest SP-1]

I think we'd all of been a bit more accepting if he simply yelled 'praise allaaaaaaaaah!!!' and dipped the plane for 3 seconds, came back straight and said 'just kidding!'.

 

I would of liked that.

Everyone would have died from a heart attack. Or when the US planes shot them down after someone called 911 about it with their cell phone.

[Guest BDC]

<--- would have passed out.

[Nevermortal 0]

Heh.

 

Not the evangelistic approach I'd have taken, but eh. Nobody died, was maimed, harmed, or put down. Christ was preached.

You've got to be shitting me, right?

[Guest SP-1]

Heh.

 

Not the evangelistic approach I'd have taken, but eh.  Nobody died, was maimed, harmed, or put down.  Christ was preached.

You've got to be shitting me, right?

No. I'm not saying what the pilot did was something he should have done insofar as the wall between your profession and your personal beleifs. And he probably didn't make Christianity look too good in the process. But if one person came to know Christ because of it, then I am overjoyed. It was entirely worth it as far as I'm concerned.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

But if one person came to know Christ because of it, then I am overjoyed. It was entirely worth it as far as I'm concerned.

 

*scratches head*

 

Okay. Generally, I get kind of scared when people express their belief in the hereafter while they pilot the plane. Same with the people manning the nuclear arsenal.

[Guest hunger4unger]

The pilot sounds like a whacko. When will people learn that it is irrelevant what religion anyone is.

[2GOLD 0]

If one person came to know of Christ.....what? Was Christ a big secret?

 

Did Jesus get erased from all the pictures and churches and crosses and movies and drink mugs that people didn't know who he was?

 

Did the Pope forget to fart on a certain day and Christ was forgotten? What, is he like Freddy Krueger and if someone doesn't act like a jackass or kill in his name then he is forgotten about?

 

I'm sorry, but even Jesus would have kicked this guys ass. Hell, he would have beat him with the cross.

[Firestarter 0]

If one person came to know of Christ.....what? Was Christ a big secret?

My favourite line of the day so far.

 

I'm sorry, but even Jesus would have kicked this guys ass. Hell, he would have beat him with the cross.

Agreed 100%

[Guest SP-1]

Allow me to rephrase.

 

If someone accepted Christ as their Savior and entered into a relationship with Him, then it was completely worth it.

 

Note, however, that I'm not advocating that everyone suddenly turn their vocational duties into witnessing time in that manner. It seems, to me, like it's making light of something far more serious and time consuming, which is showing Christ's love in your everyday relationships. Which doesn't help the stigma that the western church presently contends with.

[Guest The Satanic Angel]

An airplane doesn't substitute as a church. If the guy felt the need to preach, he needed to find a better place to do it.

[Guest SP-1]

An airplane doesn't substitute as a church. If the guy felt the need to preach, he needed to find a better place to do it.

I think I agree with you.

 

Unless you're saying that any public profession of faith shouldn't be permissible.

[Guest The Satanic Angel]

An airplane doesn't substitute as a church.  If the guy felt the need to preach, he needed to find a better place to do it.

I think I agree with you.

 

Unless you're saying that any public profession of faith shouldn't be permissible.

I'm saying people have the right to choose whether or not to attend faith assemblies. The people on that airplane had no choice.

[2GOLD 0]

Not to mention some people are afraid of flying and the LAST thing they want to hear is the pilot informing them they are crazy if they don't worship Christ.

 

Religion should stay in church or in the home. When it leaves there, it becomes a problem.

 

If people want religion, they will find it. Religion shouldn't be campaigning

[Spicy McHaggis 0]

Holy shit (pun intended). I would have been off that plane as fast as possible. There are times, places, and ways to preach. Given the state of affairs in this country, an airplane is NOT the place.