Flight attendant takes emergency exit from job

An angry flight attendant fled his airliner via the emergency escape slide after getting into an argument with a passenger.

Steven Slater, 39, who downed a beer from the galley first, was under arrest today accused of endangering the plane and trespassing after the incident at New York's JFK International airport.

Slater was on a JetBlue Flight that had landed from Pittsburgh when he got into a row with the passenger, who was pulling down baggage from an overhead bin.

The luggage apparently struck the attendant in the head and he asked for an apology, but the passenger refused.

Slater got on the public-address system and swore at the passenger. He then grabbed at least one beer, activated the slide, went down it and ran to his car.

JetBlue said it was working with the Federal Aviation Administration and Port Authority police to investigate the incident and said the safety of its customers and crew members was never at risk.

Several Facebook pages had been set up in tribute to Slater, with many users expressing support for him for walking off the job.

Passenger Phil Catelinet said he heard the profanity-laced announcement but it was not until he saw Slater on an airport train and overheard him talking about the escapade that he put it all together.

"He was smiling. He was happy he'd done this," he said.

Slater appeared "pretty relieved" and "seemed like he was looking forward to whatever comes next career-wise," Mr Catelinet said.