Passenger: JetBlue Attendant Started Fray

TAMER EL-GHOBASHY and SEAN GARDINER The Wall Street Journal 08/12/2010 15:55

A passenger on the JetBlue fight from which attendant Steven Slater disembarked Monday by activating the emergency chute and sliding down with beers in hand said Mr. Slater, apparently after being hit in the head by a passenger, was the one who instigated the confrontation that led to his now-famous exit.

Marjorie Briskin, a 53-year-old schoolteacher from Pittsburgh, said she was deplaning in John F. Kennedy International Airport around noon Monday when Mr. Slater and a woman walking in front of her got into a heated conversation over the woman's luggage. She said the passenger, who appeared to be in her 20s, asked Mr. Slater where her bag was stowed.

Ms. Briskin said the seemingly normal conversation turned unexpectedly nasty when Mr. Slater blurted out an expletive to the passenger.

"I didn't think she was rude in the least," said Ms. Briskin, who was visiting the city for the first time. "It really blew my mind. It was so inappropriate."

Ms. Briskin said Mr. Slater sported a "nice gash" on his head for most of the flight, during which there were no problems until the end, when she said Mr. Slater began methodically opening the overhead bins and then slamming them shut.

"He looked disturbed at that point," she said.

Neither Mr. Slater nor the court-appointed attorney who served at his Tuesday arraignment could be reached for comment on Wednesday. Mr. Slater will need to retain a lawyer prior to his next court date, scheduled for Sept. 7.

Ms. Briskin was not the only passenger who remarked on Mr. Slater's behavior.