From: Mermaid (hidden@lucifer.com)
Date: Mon Feb 16 2004 - 09:05:58 MST
update!
[Mermaid]Hey Blunderov...at this point, i can only laugh...much mirth....:)
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Passenger: On a Wing and a Prayer
Says pilot credited God with fixing plane's brakes
By Molly Knight
THE BALTIMORE SUN; The Baltimore Sun is a Tribune Co. newspaper.
February 15, 2004
Perhaps it was just a mechanical glitch that caused the brakes on American Airlines Flight 34 to temporarily malfunction and, moments later, start up again - just in time for takeoff.
But Capt. Rodger K. Findiesen seemed to think something more was at work. Whatever the cause, the Annapolis, Md., pilot's spiritual zeal was aroused that day at Los Angeles International Airport, one passenger recalls.
Bruce C. Steele, a journalist traveling on the JFK-bound flight, spoke to Findiesen after the plane landed about why he asked Christian passengers to raise their hands and share their faith. Steele said the pilot told him he was inspired after the brakes "cleared up without explanation."
"He told me that he felt God had been telling him to say something," said Steele, editor of the Advocate, a national magazine that covers the gay community. After the brakes flipped back on, Steele recalled the pilot saying, "He felt he finally had the courage to do so."
Findiesen, who had just returned from a mission to Costa Rica, has been making international headlines since he came over the intercom on a Feb. 6 flight and shared his religious enthusiasm with passengers.
Friday, American Airlines chief executive Gerard Arpey apologized for the incident. "Let me assure you that we take this very seriously and are conducting a thorough investigation," Arpey wrote to Abraham Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League.
Suspended from flying pending an investigation by the airline, Findiesen has declined interview requests. In a recent e-mail to a Baltimore Sun reporter, he wrote: "Jesus said, 'Let your no mean no' and my 'no comment' to you means exactly that."
While Findiesen remains silent, his actions have ignited a fiery debate on religious expression - one that's being played out in the news, on the Internet and in conversations among religious leaders.
According to news reports, Findiesen's voice came over the intercom while Flight 34 waited on the tarmac in Los Angeles, second in line for takeoff. Instead of offering his passengers details on flight times or weather conditions, he cited a statistic - that more than half of the country are Christians - before asking Christians in the cabin to identify themselves. Finally, he was quoted as saying: "You can use your time wisely on this flight, or you can sit back and watch the movie."
An airline spokesman said it will look further into the nature of Findiesen's statements, in particular his use of the word "crazy." Some passengers reportedly said the pilot called non-Christians "crazy." Steele said he thought Findiesen meant that the Christian passengers were "crazy" for raising their hands.
"I was definitely made to feel nervous, as were a lot of the people around me," said passenger Amanda Nelligan of Los Angeles.
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