Steven Slater can be seen clearly smirking as he was led away by police in handcuffs from his home in Queens, NY last night. He doesn’t look at all unhappy that he is facing a possible seven years in jail on charges of reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. Or that his 20 year career in the airline industry has obviously come to a dramatic end.

He was working on a seemingly ordinary JetBlue flight from Pittsburg to JFK yesterday when the cabin pressure got too much.  Slater got into a fight with a passenger after landing.

She was trying to retrieve her bag from the overhead bin whilst the plane was still taxi-ing. Her bag hit Slater’s head as they struggled. She swore at him – and when she refused to apologise he grabbed the intercom public address system to tell the whole plane what he thought of her.

He turned the air jet-blue with the expletives he launched at the errant passenger before adding: “It’s been a good 20 yrs, that’s it, I’m off.”

Then he activated the inflatable emergency exit chute – grabbed a couple of beers from the drinks trolley and made his dramatic exit – from the plane and his airline career.

He wasn’t stopped as he made his way through the airport or collected his car from the employees’ parking lot. He made it all the way home before police caught up with him. Apparently still unrepentant even when under arrest.

And Steven Slater has now become an unlikely American hero. Twitter is full of praise for his illegal actions. Passengers who are equally frustrated with the stresses of modern air travel seem to sympathise. And other air stewards are openly admitting that they fantasize about doing the same thing.

By Special correspondent