2 Versions of Schuller Incident Described

Two United Airlines flight attendants Wednesday described televangelist Robert Schuller as tyrannical, abusive and violent on a June flight, while newlyweds sitting in the same cabin said it was the attendants who provoked the midair incident that led to assault charges against the minister.

At a news conference Wednesday, flight attendant Khaled Elabiad said Schuller shook him violently after Elabiad refused to remove cheese from a fruit-and-cheese-plate in the first-class section.

“It was in no way a simple assault,” said Elabiad, his voice shaking. “I was held by my shoulders. I was grabbed very forcefully. I could not get out of that hold. And I was shaken so hard that my head was going back and forth so many times, giving me whiplashes and pain.

“And I saw in front of me a face full of rage and hatred. I could not understand what was going on.” Elabiad, 33, said his confrontation with Schuller, 70, so traumatized him that he is afraid to enter an airport for fear that a passenger might attack him. He said he has been unable to work since the June 28 incident and will file a lawsuit Friday seeking $5 million from Schuller.

Hours later Wednesday, at a news conference at Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, passengers Kara and Dual Macintyre gave a vastly different account of the Los Angeles-New York flight. Speaking via telephone from New York, the couple said they were mystified that charges had been filed.

Schuller “was completely under control, rational, sane, nice,” said Dual Macintyre. Added Kara Macintyre, “He wasn’t drunk, irrational, out of his mind or anything.”

Last week, Schuller avoided a trial on the assault charge by apologizing in court and submitting to six months of supervision by a federal case officer. He also agreed to pay a $1,100 fine.

Schuller pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor. Prosecutors said they will drop the charge if he keeps a clean record.

But Elabiad and his lawyers said they are not satisfied. “We are not interested in a quick settlement,” said attorney Anthony Mallilo. “We are interested in a fair, impartial hearing. What happened in the criminal venue, we believe, was politically motivated.”

Elabiad and Lisa Lane, 31, the flight’s senior attendant, said Schuller had distorted the incident.

The flight attendants contended that Schuller’s lack of respect had sparked the altercation. “Throughout the flight,” Lane said, “Rev. Robert Schuller was sarcastic and insensitive to both myself and my flying partner, Khaled.”

But the Macintyres, who were returning from a New Zealand honeymoon, said that it was the attendants who were rude and antagonistic, and that the service was the worst they had experienced on a flight.

Kara Macintyre said Schuller merely touched Elabiad in a “comforting and calming” fashion.

“Rev. Schuller’s movements, in my opinion, were in no way quick, threatening, belittling or derogatory,” she said.

Lane said the difficulty began before takeoff when Schuller demanded that his garment bags be hung behind the first-class seats. Lane told him that it was against regulations and offered to stow his bags elsewhere.

She said Schuller grew angry and said, “You don’t want me to hang these here, because you know that I am a better person than you are.”

Elabiad arrived and told Schuller about the regulations and a ground supervisor was summoned, Lane said. Schuller’s ministerial robe was removed from one bag and held behind the first-class area and his garment bags were stowed overhead, Lane said.

Later, when Elabiad brought the dessert cart, Schuller first agreed to a fruit-and-cheese platter, then rejected it, Elabiad said. Schuller jumped up, the attendant said, and declared loudly that he did not want cheese.

Then Schuller said he wanted all the grapes on the plane, Elabiad said. “Fearing that he would have an allergic reaction to cheese,” Elabiad said, “I told him that all the grapes that we had on the plane were plated with cheese. And if he was allergic to cheese, it was my duty to let him know that.”

He said Schuller called him a liar. Elabiad returned to the galley and an enraged Schuller followed, the attendants said.

Lane said Schuller pointed and said, “I want fruit. All the grapes on the plane.”

“Do you know who I am?” Lane quoted Schuller as asking.

Elabiad said he did not. “Well, I am very sorry for you,” Lane quoted Schuller as saying. “I am the powerful Rev. Robert Schuller.”

Lane said Schuller’s face grew red. She said she became frightened and ran for the captain.

Then, Elabiad said, Schuller grabbed him.

“I did not defend myself,” Elabiad said, adding that he did not strike Schuller “out of respect of my uniform . . . and also because he was a man of the cloth.”

Schuller has said that he had “aggressively” grabbed the flight attendant after being provoked but did not shake him. His attorney said Elabiad showed an “attitude” during the flight.

Schuller--who is on a low-fat diet and not allergic to cheese--told the attendant he preferred not to have the cheese on his plate because he might eat it, attorney Terry Giles said. The attendant, Giles said, told him to “take it or leave it.”

Times staff writer Nancy Cleeland contributed to this story.