A flight attendant was arrested yesterday after he queened out on a Jet Blue flight, cursed the passengers, popped the emergency chute, launched himself down the chute and fled the airport in his car.
Steven Slater, 39, was arrested at his Queens home and charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and criminal trespass, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
Slater was upset over being accidentally hit in the head with a falling bag following a dispute with an airline passenger.
According to CNN:
The incident took place just after the Jet Blue flight landed [at JFK Airport] when a passenger stood to remove a bag from the overhead bin while the plane was still taxiing, a law enforcement source with direct knowledge said. A flight attendant exchanged words with the passenger, and the conversation escalated.
Slater picked up the intercom and used expletives directed at the passengers, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. The source said that when the plane at stopped at the gate, Slater then grabbed some beer from the beverage cart before deploying the emergency slide and using it to leave the plane.
According to passengers, Slater got on the intercom and said, “I’ve been doing this for twenty years and I’m out of here.”
The FAA is investigating the incident, although they claim none of the passengers were in danger.
The used emergency chute will cost the low budget airline $50,000 to replace.
