By Michael Ventura
DNAinfo Senior Editor
MANHATTAN — The epic JetBlue meltdown that made Steven Slater a hero to disgruntled workers worldwide capped a slow burn that started well before he dropped F-bombs on the plane's PA system and bailed out on the emergency chute.
In Pittsburgh, where the flight to JFK Airport originated, Slater got into it with a female passenger who was trying to put a large suitcase into an overhead bin. Slater wanted the woman to check the bag, but she objected, the New York Post reported.
Then the bin came down on Slater's head.
After that, Slater acted like a petulant diva, passengers told the Daily News.
"He was very disturbed. He was almost hysterical," a passenger, who declined to give his name, told the News. "It was obvious that something was going on."
He bumped into passengers without apologizing, he flung a demonstration life vest and oxygen mask to the floor, and he inexplicably stopped serving drinks mid-flight, the paper said.
Once the plane landed, the woman Slater argued with earlier, jumped up to retrieve her other bag while the plane was still taxiing, witnesses told the News. Slater rushed to tell her to sit back down, when they argued again.
That's apparently when he took to the microphone.
But despite all that, recent reports say Slater is looking to get his old job back.
"Jet blue is a wonderful airline which he has loved working for, and wishes to continue working for," Slater's lawyer Howard Turman said Thursday, adding that flying is "is in his [Slater's] blood," NBC NewYork reported.
It looks like JetBlue isn't interested — they issued a company memo, obtained by NBC, saying that his actions "will not, and can not [sic], be tolerated."
Slater has been charged by the Port Authority with three felonies, and was released earlier this week on $2,500 bail.
Authorities are also trying to track down the passenger who argued with Slater, the News reported.
They want not only her version of events, but she could also face a $25,000 fine for bringing the overhead bin down on Slater, the Post reported. She could also face fines of $1,100 for standing up before the plane's captain turned off the fasten seatbelt sign.
