NY judge grants bail for angry flight attendant

Steven Slater wore a slight smile Tuesday as he was led into a Queens courtroom to be arraigned on charges of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing. The judge set his bail at $2,500, but it wasn't immediately clear when Slater might be able to post the money.

Police and prosecutors said the 38-year-old airline industry veteran lost his temper Monday afternoon after a dispute with a passenger, and then fled the parked jet by deploying the emergency chute and walking across the tarmac to an unlocked door that led to the street.

At the arraignment, defense attorney Howard Turman said Slater was under stress because his mother has lung cancer. Afterward, he provided reporters with a different account of what happened aboard the aircraft than the version initially offered by authorities.

Police had said Slater became when after a rule-breaking passenger defied requests to stay seated then accidentally hit him in the head with her luggage.

Turman said the dispute had begun earlier, when the flight was still waiting to take off from Pittsburgh, when two female passengers got into an argument over space in the overhead bins. That's when Slater was struck in the head, Turman said.

The dispute flared up again after the plane landed in New York when one of the women, who had been asked to gate-check her bag, was enraged that it wasn't immediately available.

"The woman was outraged and cursed him out a great deal," Turman said. "At some point, I think he just wanted to avoid conflict with her."

Prosecutors said that at some point, Slater addressed the passengers on the intercom.

"Those of you who have shown dignity and respect these last 20 years, thanks for a great ride," he said, according to prosecutors.

Slater's actions drew some sympathy from the public.

By late morning, more than 13,000 people had "liked" a Facebook page set up in his honor, and commenters were lauding the flight attendant's stand and calling for the arrest of the disobedient passenger.

Passenger Phil Catelinet said he heard the profanity-laced announcement on Flight 1052, which he said ended with Slater saying, "I've had it." He described the announcement as "the most interesting part of the day to that point," but didn't see Slater use the exit slide or grab the beer.

It wasn't until he saw Slater on an airport train and overheard him talking about the escapade that he put it all together.

"He was smiling. He was happy he'd done this," Catelinet told NBC's "Today."

Slater appeared "pretty relieved" and "seemed like he was looking forward to whatever comes next careerwise," Catelinet told CBS' "Early Show."

Slater, 39, was arrested at his home in the Belle Harbor section of Queens by Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police.

A woman who answered a phone at his previous residence in Thousand Oaks, Calif., identified herself as his mother but said she wasn't speaking to the media.

JetBlue Airways Corp. said in a statement that it was working with the Federal Aviation Administration and Port Authority police to investigate. It said the safety of its customers and crew members was never at risk.

At first when I read this I thought "oh lawd just another dickhead" but when I kept reading and saw what that man had gone through...shucks, I'd applauded him too.

Now, that's what I call a GRAND exit! That's how you quit a job.

I'm trying to figure out why he was arrested?

Vendetta1 said:

I'm trying to figure out why he was arrested?

Prolly for deploying the emergency chute after the plane landed. Hell, trying not to beat that bitch's ass sounds like an emergency to me.

SCNDLS said:

Vendetta1 said:

I'm trying to figure out why he was arrested?

Prolly for deploying the emergency chute after the plane landed. Hell, trying not to beat that bitch's ass sounds like an emergency to me.

Hell I want to pay his bail money.

SCNDLS said:

Vendetta1 said:

I'm trying to figure out why he was arrested?

Prolly for deploying the emergency chute after the plane landed. Hell, trying not to beat that bitch's ass sounds like an emergency to me.

PurpleRighteous1 said:

Now that's how you do the damn thing! Man I wish I could have been there to see that. This fool jumped down the emergency slide with a middle finger on one hand and a beer in the other. He was DONE!

SO

AWESOME!

What a moron. Good luck finding another job with a meltdown like that.

uPtoWnNY said:

What a moron. Good luck finding another job with a meltdown like that.

He'll be on TV in no time

uPtoWnNY said:

What a moron. Good luck finding another job with a meltdown like that.

did you even read the article?

PurpleRighteous1 said:

Now that's how you do the damn thing! Man I wish I could have been there to see that. This fool jumped down the emergency slide with a middle finger on one hand and a beer in the other. He was DONE!

Love it! This is my equivalent of flipping desks and tossing files and papers in the air on my way out tha do'!

Vendetta1 said:

I'm trying to figure out why he was arrested?

The NYC news reported that he was arrested for wreckless endangerment.

Flight Attendants: Steven Slater Is Our Frickin' Hero!

8/10/2010 9:05 AM PDT by TMZ Staff

Flight attendants from airlines everywhere are rallying around JetBlue's most famous employee Steven Slater -- praising him for fighting "flight attendant abuse" and even building him a shrine ... on Facebook.


TMZ has learned someone created an FB fan page for Slater less than a day ago -- which already has more than 15,000 followers ... and continues to grow by the minute.

But the most interesting part is the comment section, which has been taken over by flight attendants across the country who wish they had the cojones to do what Slater did.

One user wrote, "We (flight attendants) secretly have thought about doing this.....you are my hero for taking a stand on flight attendant abuse!!!!"

And another -- "Kudos to you, I am a former flight attendant and only wish I had the nerve to do what you did!!!!!!" And yet another -- "As a former F/A, you made my fantasy come true--you just did what we have all thought about doing a thousand times! Good Luck to you! "

As we previously reported, Slater -- who told off a passenger on a JetBlue flight yesterday and then abandoned ship on the emergency chute -- is charged with two counts of reckless endangerment, two counts of criminal mischief and one count of criminal trespass. His bail is set at $2,500.

Saw this story this morning on the 'Today' show.

Funny as hell!! I wish I was on that flight!!

Straight gangsta I love it!!

uPtoWnNY said:

What a moron. Good luck finding another job with a meltdown like that.

"Some" people can make money after doing a stunt like this. Others......cannot.

the customer is not always right, sad but true

he should have yelled out "Geronimo, I quit this bitch" as he slid away

saddest thing is the people who treat people doing their jobs so rudely are the first ones to throw a fit if they were treated that way by a customer. Everyone is human! Why some people think others should take their shit I do not know.

[Edited 8/10/10 13:35pm]

BklynBabe said:

the customer is not always right, sad but true

he should have yelled out "Geronimo, I quit this bitch" as he slid away

saddest thing is the people who treat people doing their jobs so rudely are the first ones to throw a fit if they were treated that way by a customer. Everyone is human! Why some people think others should take their shit I do not know.

[Edited 8/10/10 13:35pm]

So true.

This is the best story ever... we laughed all day at work about this dude..... and the funny shit is this could have easily been me today (this dick head) at work don't know how close he came to GETTIN IT!!!!