More JetBlue News

Is there something in the water over at JetBlue?  A JetBlue flight from Boston to the Dominican Republic had to land in the Washington, D.C., area Friday afternoon because of an unruly passenger, the company and federal officials said.

Flight 691 was diverted to Washington-Dulles International Airport and landed at 1:13 p.m., JetBlue spokesman Mateo Lleras said.

Lleras said the Transportation Safety Administration and local law enforcement were notified and the passenger was taken into custody. He said he could not be more specific about what the passenger was doing that forced the plane to land.

The passenger may have had an anxiety attack, according to a security official familiar with the incident who spoke on condition of anonymity because there had not been an official medical diagnosis.

Several passengers estimated the woman was in her late teens and said she was acting strangely.

"She began to yell that someone had stolen her money," Victor Pimentel, 45, told The Associated Press after the plane reached Santo Domingo.

She then asked the flight attendants onboard to help her find the money, only to hit one of the male flight attendants with her fists when he approached, Pimentel said.

The woman also spat on one of the attendants, passenger Maria Celon told the AP.

No one became frightened because the attendants acted quickly, said passenger Maria Isabel Martinez, 28. She said attendants moved the woman to another seat, tied her hands with something and calmed her down, she said.

No one was hurt, and the flight took off for Santo Domingo just before 2 p.m.

The passenger was released by mid-afternoon Friday, said airport spokesman Rob Yingling. No charges were filed.

JetBlue was already in the news this week when flight attendant Steven Slater went onto the public address system Monday on a plane at New York's Kennedy Airport after a flight from Pittsburgh, cursed out a passenger he said had treated him rudely, and then slid off the plane on an emergency slide.

The JetBlue Flight Attendant is now Famous

He lost his temper as a JetBlue flight landed in New York.  He yelled with profanity over the plane's PA system, he then grabbed two beers and slid down the emergency slide on to the tarmac. 

He was later arrested and charged, but now he is becoming a bit of a hero to working-class people.  He's been spotted all over the internet, on news shows, and programs like TMZ.

What's next for Steven Slater?  The talkshow circuit, a reality show, or maybe Dancing With the Stars.  If he wants to go and see if he can keep his temper in check maybe he should try Dr. Drew on Celebrity Rehab.

It seems like we haven't seen the last of this JetBlue flight attendant.  And he may provide a career boost for Ian Ziering, as he could easily play Slater in a movie about the infamous flight from Pittsburgh.

JetBlue Flight Attendant Loses It

A JetBlue flight attendant who got into an altercation with a passenger on a plane arriving in New York City and deployed an emergency exit slide so he could flee has been arrested.

They say 39-year-old Steven Slater was arrested on charges including criminal mischief and reckless endangerment following Monday's incident at JFK Airport.

The attendant was working a flight from Pittsburgh when he got into a heated argument with the passenger about baggage. They say as the plane was landing Slater used the public-address system to berate the passenger. They say he then activated the slide, slid down and went to his car.

He was arrested at his Queens home without incident.