A passenger on Steven Slater's JetBlue flight tells TMZ there was no evidence of any altercation between Slater and a passenger before the now-famous flight attendant got on the loud speaker and then got on the slide.
Gib Mendelson tells TMZ ... he was sitting in the middle of the plane, near an emergency exit. Gib says, "The first indication we had of the issue was his [Steven] coming on to the PA system with his diatribe. I did not see anything that precipitated the meltdown."
Gib adds Slater was in a bad mood during the flight -- "He obviously had a bad day."
As we first reported, authorities have not yet identified the passenger who allegedly went for the overhead bin prematurely and then cussed out Slater. Several people involved in the investigation tell us flatly ... they doubt Slater's story.
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"Didn't see..." "Didn't hear any altercation..." So we have people who weren't close enough to definitively say what happened telling us what happened. So did Slater hit his own head?
Just another crazy stew. 50% are great/50% are angry nutjobs who realized too late they picked the crappiest job in the world. He needs a week in jail and to have a passenger truly wail on him.
Everyone who's defending this guy -- NO ONE corroborates his story. NO ONE. Don't you think ONE person would be able to corroborate this if it was true???
I am extremely well traveled having traveled on business for 30+ years. I can tell you that just because somebody in the middle of the aircraft didn't see or hear the wind up and altercation doesn't mean it didn't happen. AND, he certainly can't speak for anyone else. He's using the term WE when he should NOT.
Someone or some company is trying hard to diminish what has happened here. Steven's injuries support his story. Past that, I think this is the beginning of an epic effort to discredit him.
You don't seem to get it. The Port Authority Police have interview many of the passengers on the plane -- NO ONE supports his story. A screaming match that went unnoticed 10 rows forward and 10 rows back????? I do 200,000 miles a year. You can hear a crying baby 30 rows away.
Passengers are saying there is no mystery passenger, Slater was drunk and he was being rude and argumentative to passengers. Get a clue--he gets on the PA slinging F words around then takes 2 beers with him when he leaves==DRUNK. I knew he was when I 1st heard about this. I am shocked at how naive so many, especially the media, were. When did people stop using their brains?? Anyone who called this dingbat a hero should be ashamed of themselves.
I must defend flight attendants, even if I don't defend Slater. Many passengers treat flight attendants like hired house staff. I'm lucky. I'm up front locked behind a security door. The flight attendants are back with passengers forced to endure any bad treatment by passengers. Most passengers are great. They are why we all have our jobs, but it only takes one bad passenger to ruin a whole flight. In our post 9/11 world, the roll of the flight attendant has gotten much, much, more important. They are required to do anything possible, including using their bodies as a shield to make certain no one can get in to the flight deck and interfering with our safe operation of that flight. Also, in the rare event, the flight attendant is responsible for getting you out of the aircraft safely and quickly. Even if you have been terrible to that flight attendant, he/she will make your safety the primary concern. The job of flight attendant isn't in itself a "crappy" job. A bad passenger (and even a few of us grumpy pilots) can make it an almost unbearable job.
What a shocker! A flight attendant who acts like an idiot and then lies to try a cover it up...who could have seen that one coming? Even if there was an "unruly" passenger on board the plane, THE PLANE HAD LANDED AND PASSENGERS WERE DISEMBARKING! There was absolutely NO reason for this idiot to act the way he did, period. If he thought the passenger was that bad, why not get the Airport Police to have a chat with them? Why not talk to the pilot and have them straighten it out? WHY ACT LIKE A FLIPPIN' MORON? Because he lied, period. He wanted to get out of being a flight attendant and make himself famous in the process. Luckily for him, out society makes getting famous through idiocy real easy.
Re. Slater's head injury... There are reports of passengers seeing the injury when they first boarded the plane. The injury is not related to the story.
And just how did he get a bump on his head??? hmmm???
People just love to discredit others...JetBlue will try to make him look bad for obvious reasons.
We are ALL tired of getting the middle of a you know what kind of sandwich while the rest seem to be getting a bonus because of cutbacks, and management's bad decision making and greed...Yes, maybe he was having a bad day, and that added to the usual bad, uncomfortable, stupid and frustrating situations flt attnds put up with every day..we all wish we could "take 2 beers and jump" we don't, but maybe someday you just might!
I wish him the best!
obviously he activated the slide for his safety and for those other passengers who were not subjected to the ongoing CIA MK ULTRA type Mind Control experiments inducing the hallucinations in everyone else aboard. so there.
ok, TMZ, since it's apparent this story is some sorta' hoax and you're ALWAYS bragging about "breaking stories", let's see how long it takes to admit you were DUPED on this one. I remember how you ran that 'balloon boy story 24/7. You even said Lohan's judge changed a ruling because of something TMZ said, YEAH RIGHT!
He's a recovering alcoholic and something made him snap that day and he was obviously drinking before and/or during the flight. His guilt for falling off the wagon pissed him off and he lost his mind.
