Whitney Lynn likes captive audiences when she preaches. She says she preaches on most of her flights because passengers “have no choice but to hear the truth.” You’re stuck in a metal tube, where most people think we should avoid controversy and confrontation. She relishes, and captioned one of her social media videos, “I just love a captive audience.”
Thursday morning she found another one on an Alaska Airlines flight from Orlando to San Diego. Then Alaska decided she should be the captive, and the audience would continue without her.
She stood up during a delay and addressed the cabin for about a minute. She told passengers that God’s timing was perfect and suggested the delay might mean he was “sparing us from danger today.”
It appears this was Alaska flight 708 Orlando – San Diego scheduled to depart at 7:37 a.m. but did not leave until 9:31. The Boeing 737 MAX 9 (registration N709AL) eventually made it to San Diego at 10:44 a.m. She was only responsible for part of the delay.
- An Alaska employee tells Lynn to gather her things because the crew does not feel safe with her aboard.
- “Do I have any guns or anything like that?” she responds. “No, I don’t. So freedom of speech is not safe?”
- She continues preaching as she packs, telling passengers that people can no longer talk about Jesus and that their discomfort proves there is power in his name. “I’ll tell you what this is,” she says. “It’s called spiritual warfare. You know why? Because demons don’t like the name of Jesus.”
- At the aircraft door she declares, “Touch ye not my anointed. Do my prophets no harm,” followed by the decidedly less humble, “You don’t know who you just messed with.”
@whitneylynn123 Part 2 (even though you haven’t seen Part 1 yet! 😄) Part 1 is the message I preached on the plane, and I’ll be posting that soon. There’s also even more footage after this, so stay tuned to this “Kicked Off the Plane for Preaching the Gospel” series. I can honestly say… wow. There is so much more you’re about to see. It’s absolutely unreal. We are truly living in the last days. But here’s the amazing part: God still moved. Two people gave their lives to Jesus! 🙌 I’ll be sharing the full story behind those salvations soon. Stay tuned. Whitneylynn.org | Igniteyourlightkidz.com | Spotify #Jesus #Jesuschrist #plane #preach #persecution ♬ original sound – Evangelist Whitney Lynn Inc
@whitneylynn123 Unreal. This was absolutely unreal. I can’t believe how they harassed and disrespected me!!! @alaskaair I kid you not—the flight attendant behind me pushed my bag with her foot and then blatantly lied, as if I was making the whole thing up. Looking back at these videos, I can see the spiritual battle that was taking place. I truly believe there were demonic influences at work, and you can see it in the way people were acting and in their faces. Then they all stood at the doorway of the plane like I was some criminal. Unbelievable. There is so much more to this story that you haven’t seen yet. Stay tuned, because there’s much more coming. I’m believing God will bring everything into the light and vindicate the truth in His perfect timing. Whitneylynn.org | Igniteyourlightkidz.com | Spotify #Jesus #Jesuschrist #plane #preach #persecution ♬ original sound – Evangelist Whitney Lynn Inc
This confrontation continued on the jet bridge. She demanded the employee’s name and asks where he is from, whether he is Puerto Rican and if Spanish is his first language? He attempted to close the aircraft door, and she protested: “No, no, no, you’re not gonna shut the door on me.”
She eventually leaves him with: “God have mercy on your soul, ’cause hell’s real, my friend.”
@whitneylynn123 I’m telling you, demons are real. This guy literally tried to shut the door on me. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to notify the airline, and sure enough, he didn’t. I called the airline, and they had no idea what had happened. Praise God for His favor—they didn’t charge me a fee. I never even told them the situation. That was the Lord. He tried to set me up so I’d have to pay to change my flight after they kicked me off the plane. But wait until you see what he tries to do next. It’s unbelievable. I truly pray for this man. Whitneylynn.org | Igniteyourlightkidz.com | Spotify #Jesus #Jesuschrist #plane #preach #persecution ♬ original sound – Evangelist Whitney Lynn Inc
While speaking to airport police, she comes up with the theory that this all happened because the employee was gay and “he knows he’s in sin,” “he knows he’s wrong,” and then returned to discussion of demons.
She wasn’t arrested. One officer tells her she had not done anything wrong, but that airlines remove passengers all the time. She asks the officers whether they personally know Jesus, calls the airport “the Devil’s playground” and prays over them. Then she walks back into the terminal and begins another sermon at Gate 36.
“Excuse me, Orlando,” she announces. “I just got kicked off this plane for telling people about Jesus Christ.” She declares that these are the end times, says Christians will be persecuted, warns that “the wages of our sin is death—hell forever,” and vows that she will not stop preaching.
@whitneylynn123 These were some of the nicest police officers I’ve ever met. ❤️ I spent about 40 minutes with them talking about the Lord, and I even had the opportunity to pray over them. They were so kind, so helpful, and truly went above and beyond. They even walked with me to the terminal and tried to help me find answers, even though there was no one there. I’m so grateful for them. I’m also so thankful for how God turned this situation around and showed me His favor. It was one of those moments where I felt the Lord saying, “I’ve got you. I’ve got your back.” God is faithful, even in the middle of difficult circumstances. Please join me in praying that the Lord richly blesses these officers and their families. 🙏❤️ Whitneylynn.org | Igniteyourlightkidz.com | Spotify #Jesus #Jesuschrist #plane #preach #persecution ♬ original sound – Evangelist Whitney Lynn Inc
From the perspective of Alaska Ailrines, the crew “became increasingly concerned” about the woman’s behavior and removed her “for safety reasons.” She’s been banned from the carrier “for the foreseeable future.”
- The passenger received a flight credit for the trip she was booted off of
- But that flight credit expires, and she’s not allowed to fly the airline.
- You generally can’t transfer a flight credit to someone else, but you actually can use credit (or deposited wallet funds) to book a flight for someone else.
- She says she wants an attorney and she’s going to preach aboard aircraft, so she may expand the range of carriers from which she’s banned. (She also claims to be banned from Frontier Airlines.)
Alaska hasn’t said why a sermon is a safety concern, if – as the woman says – nobody even asked her to stop. Another passenger from the flight, though, says she wouldn’t stop preaching when another passenger did complain and she falsely accused an employee of kicking her bag.
Passengers are generally free to pray, read scripture and discuss their beliefs with a willing seatmate (although this can be risky if you’re Muslim or if you’re just doing math).
The woman says she’s being persecuted for her Christian religion. Alaska Airlines used to distribute prayer cards – they’ve stopped! But with over 200 million Christians in the U.S. there’s not a rash of Christians being kicked off of Alaska Airliens flights. It’s likely behavior and not religion that triggered her objection.
Televangelist Kenneth Copeland once called a commercial aircraft “a long tube with a bunch of demons.” He finds passengers getting dragged down the aisle too distracting so now has to fly private.
Perhaps this time the demons were just trying to get the flight out on time.
(HT: Paul H)
Well done to Alaska. The FAA supposedly has “zero tolerance” for unruly passenger behavior, so hopefully she will be hearing from them and fined.
She’s known for these antics and does them to get clips for her social media.
To anyone who has a problem with her being removed, ask yourself if you would feel the same if that was a Muslim preaching and asking everyone to join in a call for prayer.
Good for Alaska. This is called “performative religion.” It’s done for attention, social media clicks, and outrage baiting.
Based comments so far…
Sounds like my version of hell.
My noise-cancelling headphones are sounding better all the time.
Is evangelist/preacher Whitney Lynn also Alaska Airlines’ unofficial miracle worker, heroically curing the infamous Jetbridge Jesus passengers—those poor souls who need wheelchairs to board, only to experience a miraculous recovery and sprint off the plane at touchdown? Maybe she squeezed in a pilgrimage to Walt Disney World (aka Ratworld) before getting ejected from Alaska Airlines flight 708 from Orlando to San Diego. Talk about a holy rollercoaster.
Gary, a$$holes like this feed off the attention. They do this for clicks and likes and follows.
Your article is their oxygen.
You can report the story without mentioning who it was. Deny them the attention and they go away.
Maybe next time write the story without including the name.
Could someone get up and do a sales pitch for a timeshare?
@Ken A, @Michael Fitzgerald — Let us pray: ‘…Blessed be the Jetbridge Jesuses, for their miraculous turnarounds at touchdown shall forever inspire the weary traveler; Blessed be the inflight evangelists, whose fiery sermons out-deliver any timeshare pitch trapped in mid-air; And blessed be the flight crews of Flight 708, departing our beloved Orlando, Florida, who patiently navigate demons, Rat World, and holy rollercoasters, granting us peace, and an exit, at 32,000 feet. Amen.’ *explosive decompression*
People who treat airline passengers as a captive audience need to be removed from the flight, if possible, and banned. I don’t care if it is a preacher, someone who breaks out their guitar and insists on leading a sing along, or an activist shouting political drivel. Respect others’ right to privacy. As an Air Force pilot, we used to jokingly say in our preflight briefs “Sit down, shut up, keep your feet off the seats. Enjoy the flight.” Not bad advice.
Any Christian who acts like that should think hard and re-evaluate. Would Jesus do this? I cannot say for certain but if Jesus were here now, I don’t think he would. We should all try to act as like Jesus except the healing part.
@derek — At the very least, you’d hope a modern-day Jesus would also turn the water to wine.
9/11 terrorists didn’t have a gun either.
Just the strong belief that their beliefs stood above all others.
Crazy eyes whitey (er… Whitney) stanfs shoulder to shoulder with them, whether she knows it or not.
@Zebraitis — Really? You’re invoking 9/11 over this? False equivalency, much?
@Zebra @1990. Yeah, that’s just a wee bit over the top, Zebra. While annoying and deserving of getting kicked off the flight, it’s not quite on par with the mass murder of several thousand people.
Anyone not ok with this woman being removed from the plane had better be ready to be a captive audience for worship of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or worse on their next flight. You do NOT want to open the pandora’s box of in flight preaching OR gatekeeping which religions are ok for this purpose.
@Mysterious Jay — Is a Festivus pole an approved carry-on? It has a “very high strength-to-weight ratio.”
What a stupid b—h. I’d love to describe her with more decorum but in her case decorum is wasted.
1990…THAT was hilarious and spot on!
As 1990 wrote, “explosive decompression”—should not be confused with “explosive diarrhea,” though both involve things suddenly exiting under pressure. Only one of these requires an oxygen mask, and it’s not the one you think. If you’ve ever flown out of Detroit (DTW), you might recall the legendary American Airlines Flight 96 incident on June 12, 1972, when a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 decided its cargo door wanted to see Canada more than the passengers did. The door blew out over Windsor, Ontario while climbing through 11,750 ft (3,600 m), and yet—plot twist!—everyone survived. The NTSB blamed a design defect, proving once again that “close enough” in engineering is rarely close enough. As written in Smithsonian Magazine, “Along with the passengers’ luggage, a casket carrying a corpse bound for Buffalo was stored in the cargo hold. A cargo door blowout in the hull had torn a gaping rectangular hole in the side of the aircraft, large enough to disgorge the six-foot-long casket, which tumbled two miles to earth, along with dozens of suitcases. Far worse, the explosive release of pressurized air had ripped out a large section of flooring in the passenger cabin directly above the gash in the hull. A hurricane-like wind was blasting through the length of the airplane. Flight attendant Beatrice Copeland had been knocked unconscious and lay trapped in the debris of the collapsed floor. Another flight attendant, Sandi McConnell, had barely escaped being sucked out of the airplane when the floor gave way beneath her; acting purely on instinct, she fought against the rushing air that threatened to pull her out into the sky. Without looking, she knew the lavatory door was directly behind her. It was her best chance for survival. Once inside, she closed and locked the metal door. She was safe for the time being, but cut off from rescue.” I know, explosive decompression will ruin your afternoon, and if Elvis Presley had been on board, Elvis might have left the aircraft in a far more literal sense. Meanwhile, “explosive diarrhea,” brought to you by the tiny terror Cyclospora cayetanensis, will ruin your entire month and redecorate the aircraft cabin in ways that will haunt flight attendants for years by leaving brown stains on the aircraft, walls, ceiling, and passengers.
She was removed “….because the crew does not feel safe with her aboard.” Can’t we just say “You’re being removed for being rude and annoying”?
Yawn……let me know when she starts doing porn.
@Ken A — I thoroughly enjoyed your “explosive release” above!
@CHRIS — Oof. No, thank you.
This is the proper way to handle anyone creating a disturbance on an airplane for social media attention.
Lifetime ban. Problem solved.