After over two decades of dealing with rude airline passengers, Steven Slater finally lost it today.
The JetBlue flight attendant was aboard a recently-landed plane in New York's Kennedy Airport when a woman got up prematurely to remove her baggage from the overhead bin. Slater approached the individual, only to be conked in the had with the suitcase and told to "f-ck off."
He responded by getting on the intercom and saying: "To the f---ing a--hole who told me to f--- off, it's been a good 28 years. I've had it. That's it."
Slater then opened the emergency hatch, grabbed his two carry-on bags - and two beers! - and jumped down the inflatable airplane slide to safety. At least temporarily.
According to The New York Daily News, Port Authority police were alerted to the incident and showed up at Slater's home in Queens, where they found him in bed with his boyfriend. A neighbor says Slater was smiling as the cops walked him away in handcuffs.
He'll be charged with 2nd-and 4th-degree criminal mischief; 1st- and 2nd-degree reckless endangerment and criminal trespass in the 3rd degree; and faces up to seven years in jail.
Sources, and Slater's own MySpace page, confirm that he's battled substance abuse. His father also recently died and he's been taking care of his critically-ill mother. Both parents worked for the airline industry.
Let's all hope Steven Slater walks away from this altercation a free man. After all, as Phil Catelinet, a passenger on the flightn said afterwards: "I wish we could all quit our jobs like that."