Bad day at the office!
 

More details here: Flight Attendant Uses Emergency Slide to Escape Dispute - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

JetBlue at JFK.

And in the UK Telegraph
 

Air steward storms off plane on emergency slide
An airline flight attendant who swore at an unruly passenger before storming out of his plane via the emergency inflatable slide has been arrested in New York.

By Robert Winnett
Published: 12:33AM BST 10 Aug 2010

Flight attendant Steven Slater ranted over the intercom, passengers said.
Steven Slater, 39, argued with a passenger in America who was attempting to retrieve his hand luggage from an overhead compartment while the plane from Pittsburgh to New York was still moving on the runway.
When the passenger abused Mr Slater, the "runaway" flight attendant appears to have lost his temper and dramatically resigned.

He grabbed the intercom and said: "To the passenger who called be a mother ------, ---- you.
"I've been in the business 28 years. I've had it. That's it."
Mr Slater then activated the emergency exit and slid down the inflatable slide on to the tarmac.
He then boarded a train to the terminal, stripping off his tie and discarding it to the astonishment of bemused onlookers.
He then drove to his nearby home. He was quickly arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and criminal mischief.
Mr Slater is a long-standing flight attendant who worked for budget airline Jet Blue.
According to his online profile, he has previously worked for other airlines.
His arrest appears to have triggered an online movement, with others who work in jobs which bring them in to contact with rude customers demanding his release.Air steward storms off plane on emergency slide - Telegraph

Not bad starting as CC at the tender age of 11...
:ok:

Wasn't there a senior US 727 Captain leaving his plane via aft airstairs on the taxiway tired of additional major delay?

Well, the man clearly had enough. Perhaps not the most elegant way of showing it but no doubt very satisfying.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/ny...t.html?_r=1&hp

My bold - could be a little legal let-out there.

IMHO it's a pity the passenger wasn't arrested, since if anyone was indulging in reckless endangerment it was him. All too typical at NY though, to have a line forming at the door before the aircraft gets to the gate. A well-publicised prosecution might have done something to reduce the problem.

JetBlue FA activates and slides down evac slide + leaves aviation behind 4evr
 

JetBlue Airways flight attendant storms from plane after row with passenger | World news | guardian.co.uk

The New York Times quoted a police officer who said: "Mr Slater asked for an apology. The passenger instead cursed at him. Mr Slater got on the plane's public address system and cursed out the passenger for all to hear. Then, after declaring that 20 years in the airline industry was enough, he blurted out, 'It's been great!' He activated the inflatable evacuation slide at a service exit and left the world of flight attending behind." :ooh::)

I don't blame him! :ok:

It always amazes me how the CAs put up with the behaviour of modern air passengers!

There's got to come a point when enough is enough. :eek:

I guess I can understand the popular notion of "Take this Job and Shove It", but I see a greater safety issue here.

The mental instability of the individual and also what-if a ramp hand were in the path of the slide when the he blew the slide? The outcome could've been much worse.

Not a good way to gain one's fifteen minutes of fame.

Given the way modern airlines treat their passengers, please consider that the cabin crew are set up to be faced with a tube full of discontent.

Not normally a forum I would post on, but it never ceases to amaze me how many SLF think that they have the right to stand up as soon as the aircraft touches down. Does anybody actually believe that standing up immediately and getting your bag down, gets you off the beast any quicker.

Personally, on taxi, I always have the PA button selected so that I can hear what my crew are saying over the PA. If I hear those immortal words ' could you please remain seated until the signs are turned off', I give a gentle dab of the brakes. Almost without exception, it has the desired effect and the pax sit back down. Well that's if they're not flat out in the aisle :ok:

This chap maybe was pushed a little too far, and his actions were a little OTT, but I do think cabin crew are pushed to the limit. People just don't seem to be able to stick to the rules anymore!

Hmm, I guess the result of selling cheap tickets is that you get white trash of all colors as passengers...:sad:

and he even had the presence of mind to grab a beer on the way out :)
Classic!

It's absolutely brilliant, just deploying the slide makes him an asshole, however, he totally redeemed himself in my book when he grabbed a couple of beers on the way out and probably had angry sex with his boyfriend at home.

In one word "respect" :D

When I read the story, I laughed until I had tears in my eyes!!!

Edit: for those in the unknown, another report said that the police went to his home to arrest him, they found him in a sexual embrace with his boyfriend

>Not bad starting as CC at the tender age of 11...

According to one report I read, Slater's father was an airline pilot and his mother was a flight attendant.

Absolutely. Unfortunately, no word yet on the identity or plight of the passenger, who appears to have committed at least one federal felony.

Well I hope that the judge takes a lot of things into mitigation...poor bloke.

This incident reminds me of Kelvin Throop III ("a minor bureaucrat in Canada's NWT who one day cracked and answered all his office mail with the honesty and simplicity of a child"). From Analog SF magazine of the early 1960's:

Kelvin Throop III Quotes - General Discussion - Analogsf.com Forums

--Bill