Flight Attendant Flips Out On JFK Tarmac
By CHRIS GLORIOSO wpix.com
4:57 PM EDT, August 9, 2010



QUEENS (WPIX) - A Jet Blue flight attendant is under arrest for throwing a foul-mouthed fit shortly after his plane landed at Kennedy Airport Monday.

Port Authority police say Steven Slater, 38, became so flustered with his passengers, he abruptly deployed an inflatable emergency exit chute and slid off the Embraer 190 before finishing his duties in the cabin.

Jet Blue flight 1052 took off from Pittsburgh around 10:30 a.m. and landed in New York at noon. With about 100 passengers preparing to deplane, Slater got into a verbal argument over some luggage that had fallen out of an overhead compartment and hit him. A source close to the investigation says Slater then took the plane's PA system and told the entire cabin to "go f*$# yourselves," at which point he proceeded to activate the emergancy exit slide.

Slater ran from the tarmac, got into his personal car and drove to a nearby residence in Belle Harbor, Queens, the source said. That's where police took him into custody.

The Queens District Attorney is preparing formal charges against the frustrated flight attendant.

It's not clear how Slater was able to make it all the way from the inflatable exit slide to the employee parking lot without being stopped by airport security. A source close to the investigation says Jet Blue company managers failed to immediately report the incident.

In a statement, Jet Blue insisted passengers and crew were never at risk and the airline is working with the FAA and Port Authority to investigate.

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