Former JetBlue flight attendant Steve Slater pleaded not guilty in court today to charges of reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and criminal trespass stemming from his hilariously irate resignation yesterday afternoon.
For those first learning of the story: around noon, Slater, a 20-year veteran of the industry, tried to calmly tell a woman on a flight to remain in her seat until the plane taxied to a complete stop.
She responded by ignoring him and telling him to "f-ck off," a gesture that caused Slater to snap. He got on the intercom, returned the expletives and slid down the emergency chute to safety... until cops picked him up at home a couple hours later.
Using lame reasoning, district attorney DA Richard Brown argued the following in court:
"The emergency chute deploys at 3,000 pounds per square inch within seconds and could easily injure or kill ground crews or others on the tarmac who are unaware the chute has been activated. This would have been a far different arraignment if someone had been standing under the emergency chute when it deployed.”
In response, Slater's lawyer simply wondered why his client was being prosecuted for a hypothetical: "There was no one below the window," when the chute was released, Howard Turman said.
Meanwhile, a Facebook page in Slater's honor has been created - and it already has over 15,000 members! Just like a significant percentage of THG readers, many of them support Steven. Especially the fellow flight attendants.
Wrote one: "Kudos to you, I am a former flight attendant and only wish I had the nerve to do what you did!!!!!!"