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JetBlue Passenger: Steven Slater Was Sloshed On Flight
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 13, 2010
Modified Aug 13, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 13, 2010
Modified Aug 13, 2010
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The Steven Slater saga continues! The JetBlue flight attendant's Folk Hero title didn't even last a full week, with passengers from the flight he made a dramatic departure from speaking up about what they witnessed that day. Some say he seemed "disturbed" during the entire 90-minute flight, and another recently told Eyewitness News, "This guy was a like a jerk the whole time, like I'm getting so frustrated with all of these people who keep saying he was a hero." Like totally. Anyway, now some are saying the recovering alcoholic may have been drunk for the entire flight (he did grab those two beers on his way out).
While Slater has spoken a few choice words to the press (he needs a nap, he's thankful for the support, etc), it's his lawyer that's been doing most of the talking. Howard Turman says on his client's behalf, "There's a lot of loss of civility and courtesy among each of us to one another, I guess tempers can get out of hand. The woman was outraged and cursed him out a great deal. At some point, I think he just wanted to avoid conflict with her."
Whether or not Slater is telling the whole truth about the incident (Port Authority officials say "There's certainly a decent amount of doubt at this point"), JetBlue says it doesn't really matter—what matters is that he deployed the emergency slide (at a $25K cost). The airline still hasn't handed over surveillance footage to the officials investigating the case.
As for Slater, he's allegedly hoping he can get his job back.
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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