In the coach cabin of an American Airlines Boeing 777, a passenger animates a call‑and‑response gospel, multiple rows join in, and clapping spreads. Another passenger happens to have a tamborine?! They whip it out and lock in the groove, while an older white‑haired woman claps along off beat, but even she quickly gets it too while a nearby passenger nods along while dozing. It’s a praise‑break – short, ecstatic, and participatory.
It looks from the timestamps that this happened back in June but I didn’t see it written up anywhere. Commenters online are better than 90% positive, though a few folks are offending by the Christianity. Reaction though was far more positive than when Grammy-nominated Bobbi Storm was asked by Delta crew to stop. My favorite reactions,
- “Anointed Wings” as a fictional airline name (“…with God in the cockpit!”).
A tambourine‑holster carry‑on idea (“…planes would stop falling”).
“Grandma ended racism when she started clapping!”
I’m surprised someone happened to have a tambourine, but of course musical instruments are permitted in carry‑on if they fit and pass screening.
And sometimes it just works, but if you try this at home (err.. onboard) take your cue from other passengers and from crew. Remember that you don’t have first amendment rights (those protect you from the government, not from government-subsidized and protected airlines). You’re subject to the carrier’s contract of carriage and FAA rules that offer significant deference to crew judgment. And 14 CFR 121.580 (crew interference) and 49 U.S.C. §46504 (criminal interference) are going to weigh against you if asked to stop and you don’t.
I love the passenger solidarity here. They’re in a 3‑4‑3 configured Boeing 777. That’s ubiquitous but it is tight. Communal moments like these can be as much coping as celebration. Still, I don’t always like spontaneous musical performances in the cabin like this ear ache. Much worse are the planned ones, like the Guitar Center ukelele lessons mid-air on Southwest Airlines.
Maybe I just really needed the performance today, after the UPS crash? I haven’t written about it. It’s dramatic, and terrible, and I have theories but I haven’t wanted to say anything. I’m glad this video put a smile on my face.
Horrible.
This is why I only fly biz or first. Don’t have to sit in the back with the proles.
“It’s a praise‑break – short, ecstatic, and participatory.” Nope.
“It’s a praise‑break – short, ecstatic, and incredibly annoying.” Fixed it for ya.
This looks like misbehaving on an aircraft. Evangelizing on-board is not cool.
Gary, the ‘good’ news today, November 5, 2025, is that the people are rejecting #47.
Well done, NYC, NJ, VA, PA, CA, and voters nearly everywhere.
“Hope is alive.”
This is why God and Amar Bose invented noise-canceling headphones.
And, Gary, if you’re gonna talk about UPS 5X2976 (which you like secretively ‘threw in’ at the end of this post), then please do a dedicated post, like Ben did this morning. (We’ve likely all seen the horror, and it is really, really bad.) As with any of these incidents, all tragic, we must be patient, allow the professionals will investigate. Yet, it’s natural that people are gonna speculate, and we can do so respectfully, here or elsewhere.
I’ll say, on that topic, catastrophic failures tend to happen right after human error; so, investigators will probably look to whether that engine had just come out of maintenance; thank goodness it was not a passenger aircraft, like AA191, and that their path was not over populated areas. Still, that footage with the trucks in the foreground is almost too vivid. I’d imagine these brave pilots fought it to the bitter end, even though, not much they could really do. We will learn something, and hopefully save lives in the future. Gotta keep going.
@1990 – I thought hard about this. I decided not to write about the UPS tragedy. I just didn’t think I had useful perspective to add beyond what’s been shared elsewhere. There are times like the DCA-ICT tragedy where it felt personal plus it is commercial aviation. But here I am without words, without value add, and it felt somehow more gratuitous. That’s just how it sat with me.
I mentioned it at the end of this post because it was emotional for me, and and I think it’s why this video that I wrote about inspired me. It was the uplift that I needed, so I offered it up a bit from the heart. Take that for what you will.
Oh, and let’s also clear: This was in Texas… If they weren’t white Christians singing, this post (and reactions to it) woulda been wildly different. Imagine, a few imams leading a prayer, or mere Buddhists monks meditating with their orange garb, or a few Sikhs raising their Kirpans, or… need I go on? Even a group of rabbis with the lulav palms would’ve scared them. C’mon, folks…
@1990
Keep coping, blues states voting for blue morons doesn’t mean what you think it does.
We’ll see what happens when the scotus finally stop racial gerrymandering that Democrats rely on to cheat.
This is so annoying lol. Why do this on a plane? Worse than a crying baby
I wouldn’t have appreciated this, which I think is obnoxious and without adequate self-awareness or respect for others.
@Walter Barry — Oh, you didn’t see it, did you… Democrats in Georgia flipped two statewide seats for public service commissioners by double digits. Mississippi broke the Republican supermajority in the state senate… yeah, it’s just the beginning.
When in a public venue, I prefer not to be bothered by anyone that is fat loud and stupid. These annoying xtians have all the fore-mentioned descriptors.
Sit down, shut up, and tell your imaginary friend cheezus to do the same. This is more annoying and disrespectful than the idiot taking a call on ear buds.
Who knew that Gary Leff was a god botherer?
Imagine if you will if a group of Muslims had broken out in song on a flight, praising Allah. Bible thumping islamophobes would have had the plane out down claiming a security threat.
Again, you are entitled to your religious beliefs, but if you don’t want to hear about religions that don’t worship the diety called Jesus I’m pretty sure they’re not interested in your beliefs either.
@Gary Leff — It’s your blog; I respect your editorial choices; and, wish you and everyone comfort in difficult times like the aftermath of such a tragedy; I’d only hope we can learn more and ideally avoid such horrors again.
Completely offensive. Could you imagine if a bunch of Muslims did this? They’d turn the plane around and arrest them all.
@Parker
That because muslims are responsible for the worst terrorist attacks in the world. Christians don’t behead people or fly airplanes into buildings. That’s just a tuesday in the land of islam.
@1990
Trump is still president,
ICE is still deporting,
and the Scotus is still dismantiling your agenda every summer.
deal with it.
Religious bullying on the airplane! Just a reminder to intolerant Christian zealots who insist on imposing their beliefs on the rest of us; despite your bigotry and intolerance we are not a Christian theocracy and will resist your efforts to make our country one. You are nothing but the Taliban of America!
Cringe…
Good lord. If this happened on a flight I was on, I’d be complaining to the FAs right way. How disrespectful and disruptive to your fellow passengers.
Quiet cabin policy.
Just what everyone wants … religion forced on them. As others have said, let’s see how positive the comments are if its a group of Muslims. Everyone should just keep their religion to themselves on a plane.