Remember that news story about the evangelical American Airlines pilot who went nuts just before takeoff? Lots of people don’t. It wasn’t the huge story it would have been if the pilot’s name had been Mohammed instead of Rodger.
Earlier this month, at the beginning of American Airlines Flight 34 from Los Angeles to New York, pilot Rodger K. Findiesen asked Christian passengers to raise their hands. He then called non-Christians “crazy.”
According to CNN, he then told passengers to “look around at each other and use the flight wisely” by speaking to one another about their relationships with God.
It is easy to imagine a pilot making these comments, then flying his plane into a government building – all in the name of God, of course.
A passenger told CNN some people were so shocked “they reached for their mobile phones or on-flight phones.”
“Just given the history of what’s happened on planes in this country, anything can happen … We weren’t sure if something was going to happen at takeoff … but there was definitely implication there that something was going to happen,” the passengers said.
During the flight, Findiesen apologized to the crew, but not to the passengers.
Imagine a pilot named Mohammed Akbar declaring all of his non-Muslim passengers insane. The country’s terror alert level would jump to magenta, air traffic would stop and Akbar would be detained. The airline’s stock would plummet.
But since Findiesen is Christian, he’s just eccentric. Except for the occasional abortion clinic bombing or child abduction, Christians never commit acts of terrorism. And even when they do, gee whiz, their intentions are good – just like the intentions of every suicide bomber.
In a statement, American Airlines said Findiesen’s act “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.”
So Findiesen was just “sharing” his thoughts, the same way preachers on the Oval are sharing when they call every woman on campus a whore. It’s terrifying. At least the Oval preachers don’t have control over thousands of gallons of jet fuel.
Interestingly, in the press releases section of the American Airlines Web site, there is no mention of Mr. Findiesen’s wild ride.
The airline did not release the pilot’s name until this past Friday. Findiesen is under investigation, but according to CNN, “The results of the investigation may never be made public because the airline has said it does not discuss matters of employee discipline.”
Bad idea. Passengers on Flight 34 were scared. Nobody wants a religious extremist in control at 35,000 feet, even if he does hand out parachutes to those who share his faith.
The chief of American Airlines has apologized for Findiesen’s actions. But to continue as a reputable company, the airline needs to publicly dismiss its preaching pilot.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, few travelers have boarded planes without thinking of what could go wrong. The few who read beyond the front page of their newspapers – those who regarded this story with fear – are unlikely to fly American Airlines in the near future. Findiesen is a threat not only to passenger safety, but alsoto his company’s financial success.
Fortunately for the pilot and the airline, Findiesen endorsed Christianity. Any other religion and he would have been crucified on the front page of every U.S. newspaper weeks ago.
Rachel Merton is a senior in English. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].
