Slater Was Cranky the Entire Flight: Witnesses

Steven Slater seemed upset all the way through the flight that will likely be his last as a JetBlue employee, according to witnesses who say they saw him bumping into passengers, slamming overhead bins shut and abruptly throwing an oxygen mask aside after a safety demonstration. "He was very disturbed. He was almost hysterical," one passenger tells the New York Daily News. "It was obvious that something was going on."

Some passengers say Slater may have actually instigated the confrontation with a passenger over stowed baggage that led to him leaving his job in spectacular fashion. Slater, Gawker notes, warned in postings to an airline industry message board that the explosion of carry-on baggage that followed the introduction of luggage fees had created a monster. "I hate to be bag Nazi when I work a flight, but I feel if I am not, then I am letting down all those who cooperate and try to help out as well," he wrote. (More Steven Slater stories.)