Down The Chute – And Into The News

Posted August 12, 2010 by BookingBuddy

It sounds like a scene from a movie – an irate flight attendant, angered by a passenger’s rudeness, leaves his job by sliding down a plane’s emergency chute. Those of you who have had to deal with rude, abusive customers may have dreamt of reacting in a similar manner.

But that’s exactly what happened on Monday, when Steven Slater, a JetBlue flight attendant grew increasingly frustrated when a passenger ignored his repeated requests not to open the overhead lockers until the plane they were on had come to a complete stop. The final straw came when the passenger’s bag hit Slater in the face, and who berated him instead of giving him an apology.

The flight attendant then used the plane’s public address system to announce his anger, and grabbed a can of beer from the galley before dramatically deploying the emergency chute, sliding down it and walking to his parked car.

Slater was subsequently arrested and charged, but has since turned into something of a folk hero. There are Facebook fan pages and websites set up for him, and avid fans can even buy t-shirts with slogans such as ‘I Slide For Slater’.

While many are currently celebrating the flight attendant’s daring stunt, Slater also has his detractors, who criticise him for the way he handled the situation. Whose side are you on? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. 

(Photo: asrs.arc.nasa.gov)

Categories: Travel News