A flight attendant ran out of patience on a plane that just landed at JFK on Monday afternoon, so he allegedly cursed a blue streak over the p.a. system, grabbed some beers, pulled the emergency chute, slid down and ran from the plane, sources said. Jet Blue employee Steven Slater was working on Flight 1052 from Pittsburgh to Kennedy Airport, which landed at around 12 p.m., when he got into a verbal altercation with a passenger, law-enforcement sources said.
Following a heated exchange, the flight attendant told off the entire plane on the public address system, activated an emergency chute near the back of the plane and jumped down the evacuation slide and ran for it.
The argument began when one of the 100 passengers on the flight, got up early to get her luggage from an overhead compartment, according to sources. Slater told the passenger to sit back down -- but, as he approached, the woman continued to pull her belongings down and struck him in the head with her bag, authorities said.
Slater asked for an apology but the woman cursed him out, saying in effect "go f--k yourself" and calling him a "mo-fo," according to law enforcement sources who are still sorting out the specifics. Then Slater got on the flight's announcement system and allegedly cursed out everyone on the plane -- especially the person who mouthed off to him, according to law enforcement sources.
When his tirade was through, he then took a some beers from the galley and pulled the emergency chute and slid off the Embraer 190 plane. According to police sources, he threw his luggage down first and said something to the effect of "there goes 28 years," before he took the plunge.
After getting down the slide, Slater took off into the terminal, law-enforcement sources said.
Slater was later arrested at his home in Belle Harbor, Queens by Port Authority officials. He was found by police in a sexual embrace with his partner, sources said.
The steward was "having a bad day," sources said.
He is being charged with 2nd-and 4th-degree criminal mischief, 1st- and 2nd-degree reckless endangerment and criminal trespass in the 3rd degree, according to a spokeswoman for Queens DA Richard Brown. Slater faces up to 7 years in prison if convicted.
No one was injured in the incident. JetBlue, in a statement, added, "At no time was the security or safety of our customers or crewmembers at risk."
