The Price of Steven Slater's JetBlue Flight
What's the price of JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater's alleged actions?
CBS News Legal Analyst Jack Ford said the charges brought against him for his behavior are criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing aren't minor -- at least for now.
Steven Slater: Working-Class Hero?
Pictures: Steven Slater
Ford explained, "The question's going to be, how is it going to work out down the road? Sometimes, the toughest decision for a prosecutor is not. 'What am I going to charge somebody with,' it's 'Should I charge them in the first place,' and then, 'Where does this case go?' So I think you'll see a lot of conversation, a lot of negotiations ... but right now, these are not insignificant charges."
Prosecutors say Slater flipped out over a fight with an agitated traveler Monday, cursing over the intercom before grabbing some beer from the plane's galley and deploying the emergency slide at New York's Kennedy Airport.
Slater was released from jail Tuesday night after his $2,500 bail was posted.
Smith pointed out Slater said in a statement that he basically did do all the things leveled at him, but then, when the bail was posted, that he's not guilty.
Smith said, "At one point, you have almost what is tantamount to a confession and on the other hand, you have, 'Not guilty.' How do you parse through all this?"
Ford replied, "He's saying, 'I did these certain acts, but I'm not a criminal.' And you'd expect him to say that, I think. The question is going to be now, how is the justice system going to view him? Will they view him as somebody that snapped because of the stress? And the problem here, obviously, it's not -- if you did, in fact, curse at somebody else. It's not even grabbing the beer and leaving the plane. It's the way he left the plane. If he goes out the jetway, he's fine. He's probably going to get fired, but there's no criminal charges. When you pop that emergency chute, this is what the genesis of all these criminal charges are; they're saying you created a real risk for anybody who is down on the ground, other people on the plane. That's where you get the criminal mischief. That's where you get the reckless endangerment."
And then there's the cost of pulling the emergency slide. Will Slater have to pay JetBlue back? The cost of pulling chute, Smith said, could be as much as $25,000.
Ford said, "If I was going to guess how this works out, if I'm his lawyer, I sit down with the prosecutor and say, 'Look, I have a guy that's not a bad guy. He did a bad and stupid thing, but nobody got hurt. How do we work this out?' Most states have what they call pretrial intervention programs, diversion programs, where the prosecutor can say, a judge will say, 'Look, we'll put you on probation, put a hold on these charges. Don't get in trouble again. If you don't, this thing will go away. You might have to pay for some costs and things, but you're not going to have a criminal record. You're not going to go to jail."'
Copyright 2010 CBS. All rights reserved. CBS News Legal Analyst Jack Ford said the charges brought against him for his behavior are criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing aren't minor -- at least for now.
Steven Slater: Working-Class Hero?
Pictures: Steven Slater
Ford explained, "The question's going to be, how is it going to work out down the road? Sometimes, the toughest decision for a prosecutor is not. 'What am I going to charge somebody with,' it's 'Should I charge them in the first place,' and then, 'Where does this case go?' So I think you'll see a lot of conversation, a lot of negotiations ... but right now, these are not insignificant charges."
Prosecutors say Slater flipped out over a fight with an agitated traveler Monday, cursing over the intercom before grabbing some beer from the plane's galley and deploying the emergency slide at New York's Kennedy Airport.
Slater was released from jail Tuesday night after his $2,500 bail was posted.
Smith pointed out Slater said in a statement that he basically did do all the things leveled at him, but then, when the bail was posted, that he's not guilty.
Smith said, "At one point, you have almost what is tantamount to a confession and on the other hand, you have, 'Not guilty.' How do you parse through all this?"
Ford replied, "He's saying, 'I did these certain acts, but I'm not a criminal.' And you'd expect him to say that, I think. The question is going to be now, how is the justice system going to view him? Will they view him as somebody that snapped because of the stress? And the problem here, obviously, it's not -- if you did, in fact, curse at somebody else. It's not even grabbing the beer and leaving the plane. It's the way he left the plane. If he goes out the jetway, he's fine. He's probably going to get fired, but there's no criminal charges. When you pop that emergency chute, this is what the genesis of all these criminal charges are; they're saying you created a real risk for anybody who is down on the ground, other people on the plane. That's where you get the criminal mischief. That's where you get the reckless endangerment."
And then there's the cost of pulling the emergency slide. Will Slater have to pay JetBlue back? The cost of pulling chute, Smith said, could be as much as $25,000.
Ford said, "If I was going to guess how this works out, if I'm his lawyer, I sit down with the prosecutor and say, 'Look, I have a guy that's not a bad guy. He did a bad and stupid thing, but nobody got hurt. How do we work this out?' Most states have what they call pretrial intervention programs, diversion programs, where the prosecutor can say, a judge will say, 'Look, we'll put you on probation, put a hold on these charges. Don't get in trouble again. If you don't, this thing will go away. You might have to pay for some costs and things, but you're not going to have a criminal record. You're not going to go to jail."'
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Air rage is a real phenomenon.
Airline industry and FAA share blame on allowing profit and politics to creep so deep into this industry thus corrupting safety.
I unreservedly respect and regard all flight attendants as flight safety officers, who manage on and off boarding and in flight cabin safety, they are essentially civilian agents empowered by law to enforce federal aviation statutes during commercial air transport activities.
FAA must proactively engage to prohibit growing menace of air rage by stopping.....
Airline overbooking and seat bumping.
Aircraft design or modifications that do not mandate equal carry on baggage space for each and every seat.
Vague and inconsistent carry on baggage guidance and enforcement.
Any tolerance and pandering to rude and obnoxious air passengers, who ignore airline staff, dismiss rules, selfishly delay efficiency, and create a public nuisance in a high risk environment degrading overall safety for all.
Airlines learn the lesson here.
Pulling a Slater, doing a Slater, going Slater, or whatever way similar deeds are now branded will be forever more known in airline industry with equal notoriety as the going postal axiom.
Steven Slater personifies scores of strained professional air industry staff who struggle every day and night to keep flights moving safely on time against all odds. Wrong even when you are right, no win situation.
This JetBlue flight attendant did his job by the book correctly time and time again despite increasing frustration of misbehaving passengers until get got mad as hell and just was not going to take it anymore.
Legal folks and court need to apply leniency and mandate stress treatment as only punishment.
JetBlue as employer owes him paid sick leave and paid for stress treatment.
All levels of management owes all working staff better backing next time to oust distracting and uncooperative travelers.
FAA needs to start policing airline industry better from safety threat of inconsiderate or unruly passengers.
Airlines need to up their game with better training and quality control to support staff on actually ejecting the few but growing numbers of habitually offensive customers near or on an aircraft that abuse or distress fellow members of traveling public or flight safety officers just doing their lawful safety related duties.
Uncouth passengers need to comply with carry on size and weight requirements and exercise better respect for other passengers and staff.
Prevent and treat cause, not symptoms.
How unprofessional. How irresponsible.
I would hate to see how he would have handled a REAL emergency.
He is NO hero! The hero is the man/woman who sacrifices himself for others. Our soldiers are heroes. Not this jerk.
Monitor carry on luggage, you have a box and a sign to measure so have someone eyeball luggage that is carried on board.
No excuses for the airline employees behavior.