Steven Slater, the Runaway Jet Blue Flight Attendant: Where Is He Now?

Steven Slater was just one of a host of people who momentarily grabbed the spotlight in 2010 and dominated a news cycle or two while getting their 15 minutes of fame. In this series, AOL News is checking in on 25 of these newsmakers and giving them a 16th minute.

Jet Blue employee Steven Slater flew into a rage when a passenger refused to follow his instructions and stay in their seat.

Facebook / Splash News

Steven Slater's dramatic exit from a JetBlue plane earned him a mental-health evaluation and a $10,000 fine.

Steven Slater Made News in 2010 When He: Grabbed a JetBlue loudspeaker and let loose a stream of profanities before announcing, "I've been in this business 20 years. And that's it, I'm done," then opened up the emergency inflatable escape slide and hopped out of the plane. Did we mention that he was a flight attendant?

The Full Story: The Steven Slater saga started Aug. 9, when a prickly passenger aboard a Pittsburgh to New York flight ignored Slater's warnings not to take her bag out of the overhead compartment before the plane had come to a complete stop. The passenger failed to heed the flight attendant's warnings and then proceeded to knock him in the head with her luggage and curse at him. At least, that's Slater's story. Other passengers on the flight refused to corroborate this version. What's undisputed, however, is what happened next: An irate Slater fulfilled millions of wishful-thinking "take this job and shove it" fantasies and dramatically exited from the parked plane -- with two Blue Moon beers in hand. Slater's actions hit on some of the big themes of 2010. In a recession year when people were afraid of losing their jobs, and as airlines stepped up their fees, Slater spoke his mind and quit.

What's Happened Since? Slater's daring departure didn't just cost him his job. The former flight attendant was subsequently charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing. The day after he jumped onto the tarmac, he was arrested at his New York home in Belle Harbor, Queens. At first, Slater pleaded not guilty, but he changed his tune in October. He worked out a plea deal that includes a year in a mental-health program and a $10,000 fine. More recently, however, the rogue flight attendant is trying to capitalize on his fame. In a commercial for Line2, a company that provides Wi-Fi access on airplanes, Slater raps, "My legal fees are paid by the dot-com biz." The Daily News reported earlier this month that Slater has been busy trying to lose weight, caring for his dying mother and undergoing counseling.

In His Own Words: In the days after he quit his job, Slater was unrepentant. But once the court proceedings were under way and he was looking at up to seven years of jail time, the "working class hero" had a different take on things. "At the end of the day, I am a grown adult and must accept responsibility for my actions," he said.

Video: Security video of Steven Slater deploying the inflatable escape slide (no sound, blurred logo); montage of Slater-oriented news clips

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