A JetBlue flight attendant got into an argument with a passenger on a jetliner arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport Monday, cursed the passenger, grabbed a beer from the galley and then deployed an emergency exit slide and fled the plane, authorities said.
Flight attendant Steven Slater was arrested at his nearby home in the Belle Harbor section of Queens by Port Authority of New York And New Jersey police on charges of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing.
By Monday night, several Facebook pages had been set up in tribute to Slater, with many users of the social networking site expressing support for him for walking off the job. One such page had nearly 3,500 followers early Tuesday.
Slater, 39, remained in custody Monday night. His attorney's name wasn't immediately available, and there was no home telephone number listed for him.
A woman who answered a phone at a previous residence listed for Slater in Thousand Oaks, Calif., identified herself as his mother but said she wasn't speaking to the media.
JetBlue Airways Corp. said in a statement that it was working with the Federal Aviation Administration and Port Authority police to investigate the matter.
It said the safety of its customers and crew members was never at risk.
Flight attendant Steven Slater was arrested at his nearby home in the Belle Harbor section of Queens by Port Authority of New York And New Jersey police on charges of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing.
By Monday night, several Facebook pages had been set up in tribute to Slater, with many users of the social networking site expressing support for him for walking off the job. One such page had nearly 3,500 followers early Tuesday.
Slater, 39, remained in custody Monday night. His attorney's name wasn't immediately available, and there was no home telephone number listed for him.
A woman who answered a phone at a previous residence listed for Slater in Thousand Oaks, Calif., identified herself as his mother but said she wasn't speaking to the media.
JetBlue Airways Corp. said in a statement that it was working with the Federal Aviation Administration and Port Authority police to investigate the matter.
It said the safety of its customers and crew members was never at risk.
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