Steven Slater's famous exit from JetBlue may have made him a folk hero, but his reign may be ending as passengers from the flight start revealing their sides of the story. Which is that Slater had a gash on his head for most of the flight (suggesting that it didn't come from a passenger hitting him) and he was in a foul mood from the get-go, snapping at more than one passenger.
Marjorie Briskin, a 53-year-old schoolteacher said she witnessed the heated luggage conversation between Slater and a 20-year-old female that allegedly pushed him to abandon ship via the emergency chute. Briskin told the Wall Street Journal, "I didn't think she was rude in the least. It really blew my mind. It was so inappropriate. He looked disturbed."
Another passenger, Lauren Dominijanni, told the paper that Slater was rude to her when she boarded the flight and asked for a napkin to clean up spilled coffee on her seat (which she never received). She said he spent most of the flight slamming overhead bins and refrigerator doors, noting it made her uncomfortable for the entire 90-minute trip. However, if the passenger Slater was arguing with did hit him, she could theoretically be charged with assault, because federal rules says, "No person may assault, threaten, intimidate or interfere with a crew member in the performance of the crew member's duties aboard an aircraft."
Apparently JetBlue has been giving authorities the run-around, and not handing over details, or surveillance footage, they need to finish their investigation. The airline has been keeping mum for the most part, but yesterday posted on their blog, "While we can’t discuss the details of what is an ongoing investigation, plenty of others have already formed opinions on the matter. Like, the entire Internet."
As for Slater, he was ambushed by CityRoom in an elevator at the Manhattan apartment he's staying at. They recorded their impromptu interview with him, where he tells them “For 20 years, I thought about [pulling the emergency chute]. But you never think you’re going to do it.” He also says he needs a "good nap." His next court date is on September 7th.
