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

Latest update from the NY Times:

JetBlue Attendant Held on Bail as Lawyer Cites Abuse on Flight - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com


While he sits in jail, there's still no word on the passenger or why s/he hasn't been arrested.

Sometimes you just have to act. I doubt he'll regret it

shame the human scum he was dealing with werent arrested too.

well done Mr Slater! :cool:

What a hero!

Take This Job and Shove it
 

When I was flying night cargo in DC-3s and DC-4s we used to listen to an all night gazillion watt country radio station in Albuquerque, NM. Our favorite song was, "Take This Job and Shove it".

We'd crank it up real loud on the NDB, but, alas, it was just the two of us and a lot of freight listening.

I would love to see some support for Mr. Slater.

All the evening news coverage in the US taking up a very sympathetic position with Mr Slater. He's definitely in the limelight in a good way now, he just needs the $2500 bail money and he's out for the time being.

Go Steven
 

After Rant, Many See JetBlue Worker as Hero | NBC Bay Area

Now comes the book!

Rumour has it (this is a rumour network thread, isn't it) that it was a U.S. Congresswoman. Surely an ordinary mortal would have been taken off the plane in handcuffs. Maybe her secret is in not complaining about the sandwiches.

faffod

You guys can't be serious
 

I've been flying commercially since the 70's. I remember those days when you dressed up to fly and the flight crews actually treated you like a cruise ship passenger (yeah, I flew Pan Am a lot). So I've flown and been around enough to witness the change in attitude; from air travel being something special to air travel as a quicker version of Greyhound. I've also witnessed the change in attitude of flight crews towards their passengers; that being one of respect to one of nothing more than grudging tolerance.

Until I retired, I flew weekly; and I always had an appreciation for those crews on TWA and AA that took the time to treat me as a human being. After all, I was actually flying more than any of them, because road warriors don't have monthly flight hour restrictions. I didn't much care about anything else, as long as the plane took off close to on time and arrived within an hour or so of scheduled time. (Yeah, I flew TWA and AA a lot). Even when things went sideways, I NEVER once witnessed a case of a passenger initiating an altercation with a member of a flight crew. I wish I could say the same about flight crews initiating "events" against passengers.

You guys carry the attitude of YOUR PASSENGERS as being nothing more than Self Loading Freight (SLF-your phrase, not mine) on board, and you treat them as such (i.e. cattle). Now you sit in amazement that those same people might not treat you with the respect that you feel that you're due?
Honestly, each and every one of you need to get a grip. You're in a service industry, and your income depends directly on YOUR PASSENGERS continuing to buy tickets on your airlines. You don't DESERVE respect, you EARN it by your actions and your behavior. Try acting like human beings and a little less like air Nazis and you just might notice a difference.

Speaking as a pilot who positions a lot in the back as SLF I prefer not to have some idiot drop their overweight "handbaggage" on my head in the final minutes of the trip because they cannot wait until the a/c comes to a full stop at the gate to get their precious belongings.

Even after it is parked, it will take some time to open the door(s) and only then will anybody get off the a/c; not one second earlier.

So I applaud any Flight Attendant who enforces the logical rule of staying seated with your belt on until we're at the gate; I have also witnessed on occasion the effect of a quick dab on the brakes that is sure to get everybody's attention.

Using the slide to escape from his job was a bit OTT but at least he got a world wide debate going..

As a simple SLF,what does it cost to 'put the slide back'??:hmm:

Minimum $3,000

Yup, goes both ways though, you know?

Mate, buy your own plane and pay your crew well enough that they would be willing to put up with your pomposity. Problem solved! :E

Minimum $3,000
 

OOps!:= .

Get a grip??!
 

"Try acting like human beings and a little less like air Nazis and you just might notice a difference."

air Nazis?! What a ridiculous thing to write. You seem to have lost sight of the fact that cabin crew don't make up the rules of aviation safety, they TRY to enforce them. It's people like you who seem to think you're above the rules, and that makes the crew's job that much harder. Never in the history of aviation has a passenger reached the terminal before the aircraft has, so it's beyond me why anyone would feel it necessary to stand up before it's been deemed safe for everyone to do so by the captain. This particular steward was simply trying to enforce that rule, believe it or not for the passenger's safety and the safety of those around her. She ignores him, and look what happens - he gets hit with her bag. If it hadn't been the steward who was struck, it would have been another passenger who, knowing americans, would probably have then sued the airline for not enforcing the safety rules properly. He's damned if he does and he's damned if he doesn't.

So I think you'll find you're the one that needs to get a grip. Respect works both ways, and if passengers would just have respect for the job the cabin crew do and follow the rules laid out for everyone's safety, incidents like this would never occur.

SLF here
 

I travel, a LOT. Probably 70 sectors this year already, mostly in premium cabins, mostly long haul. I always resect the cabin crew, and expect the saem in return. I have however witnessed an appalling deteriation in how people behave on planes, for the UK guy in EK business class giving his wife a drunken slap every few minutes to people coming close to a physical confrontation because the overhead bin was full of somoene else's luggage.

I flew Delta from Amsterdam - Mineapolis last week, in Y class and had forgotten just how the attitude is different when I travel on US flagged carriers. I was treated with disdain, food was virtually thrown at me, and the moaning I got when I had the front to ask if I could borrow a pen to fill in my Customs declaration form had to be heard to be beleived. I didn't expect to be treated like a C class passenger, despite being elite plus on Skyteam, but it was truly appalling, and I was at my most polite.

We ARE actualy human beings, and some of us have the class to treat you politely, it would be nice if sometimes this was reciprocated, to those who try and make a difference, witha cheery hello on boarding, and a please and thank you when you sling the tray at us.

As for this guy whi did a runner down the slide, beers in hand, man I wish I had the balls to do that to my boss some days. Respect. :D

So this story has gone global. Masive internet intrest and support for the guy. And it gets moved to SLF. pprune you have lost the plot!!!

Good point, though in the past few years, I have noticed that the cabin crew and the flight deck crew communicate very clearly to the pax the need to stay in the seat/seat belt until all motion stops. If the plane has to stop suddenly, injury if folks aren't in the seats with seat belts on. Just like in a car ... which some passengers don't make the linkage to.
The FA did something unprofessional. That said, I certainly understand his frustration with passengers who won't stick to the basics of safety regs.

But here is an interesting point from a related article ...
That mentality is nicely illustrated by the use of the term "Self Loading Freight" by industry professionals on these forums ... ;) but there has already been a thread about that over in the SLF forum. :cool:

I trust that due process will be followed and that (barring any emergent defences) this gentleman will be terminated.

This behavior is unacceptable.

Yeah look, we all have crap days and a hell of a lot of us have been at our jobs for 30+ years.
As much as it appeals to the free spirit in most of us, and was something that most of us would love to do in our respective jobs, it really was a stupid and un-professional stunt to pull ( excuse me ).
I'm not aviation, although I fly fairly often and have utmost respect for the drivers and then the cabin staff of these machines, but ****,what if he bundled it up and then decided to make his statement on his next job at 35000 ft?
The poor guy needs some help, not applauded as if he was Ben Stiller in some movie.
Just my take on it.
Cheers, SBJ