Steven Slater, a veteran flight attendant announced over the plane's public address system that he had been abused by a passenger and was quitting his job.

Slater claimed that as JetBlue Flight 1052 taxied to a stop, a passenger stood up too early to retrieve her bag from the overhead compartment.

As early as August 13, investigators stated none of the dozens of passengers interviewed about the incident had corroborated his account.

He then activated the emergency inflatable slide, exited the plane, and threw his tie on the tarmac before calmly walking to his Jeep.

[7][8] The district attorney pursuing the case said Slater's actions were serious and could have killed or grievously injured anyone below the inflatable plastic chute.

[14] Slater's attorney has said that at the beginning of the flight, two female passengers had argued over the allocated bag space in the overhead bin.

Some Port Authority police officials have criticized JetBlue for waiting 25 minutes before informing them of the incident.

[17] The Port Authority also criticized JetBlue for refusing to give them its flight manifest or videos of the incident.

[18] Bill Briggs of MSNBC said that the incident "launched a fresh examination of the two-faced persona all flight attendants are asked to master: grinning snack server one moment, frowning rules enforcer the next.

"[19] Corey Caldwell, a spokesperson for the Association of Flight Attendants, said that while the association did not condone Slater's behavior, it held concerns for flight attendants working longer hours for lower wages and for passengers carrying heavier bags due to fees on checked luggage.

[20] Sarah Keagle, a flight attendant who writes in the blog The Flying Pinto, said "Hopefully," the incident "was an 'Aha' moment for the traveling public."

"[22] Rich Lowry wrote that the incident represents "the value our culture puts on emotional expressiveness" drawing parallels between Captain Chesley Sullenberger's "unadorned professionalism" when he landed US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River with no deaths, and Slater's "tantrum" which escalated into "an act of reckless endangerment".

[23] Froma Harrop said in her syndicated column that if there had been an unruly passenger, Slater should not have abandoned his fellow flight crew.

[27] In a memo to employees, they have said that, "If Mr. Slater's story proves to be accurate, and even if there was a precipitating event that motivated his behavior, that still doesn't excuse his actions."

He also said that the incident was costly to the airline, as it delayed other JetBlue flights and the plane had to be taken out of service for "a couple of hours".

Slater was also criticized for throwing his tie onto the tarmac since it could have blown into the path of a taxiing plane and been sucked into an engine.

[34] Slater agreed to a plea bargain in October 2010 in which he would plead guilty to one of the lesser charges, accept a status of probation, receive drug testing, undergo counseling, and avoid prison.

The Post was occasioned to speak with him after a Twitter employee leaving the company briefly deactivated Donald Trump's account, an action compared on social media to his departure from JetBlue.