( CNN ) -- Months after he told off a passenger over a plane 's public address system , a former JetBlue flight attendant told CNN 's Larry King on Tuesday that `` a perfect storm of bad manners '' triggered his much ballyhooed outburst . `` It was a stressful , rushed ( plane ) full of harried carriers ... and a harried crew , '' Steven Slater said in his first extensive interview since the August incident . `` I was angry at all of it . I call it the perfect storm of bad manners that created this situation , including my own . '' Slater talked to CNN exactly one week after reaching a deal with prosecutors and pleading guilty to second-degree attempted criminal mischief , a felony , and fourth-degree attempted criminal mischief , a misdemeanor . Under terms of the deal , he must enter a yearlong mental health program , which includes treatment for substance abuse , and take certain medications . Slater must also pay a $ 10,000 fine to JetBlue for the cost of repairing or replacing the chute . That 's a steep cost given that Slater earned $ 9,700 last year after taking time off to help his ailing mother , said his publicist Howard Bragman . But Slater said he was happy to avoid a trial that , as long as he is n't arrested again , keeps him out of jail . `` I do n't look very good in horizontal stripes , '' he said . Slater has signed with a book agent , through the William Morris agency , to work with a co-writer on a story documenting his 20 years in the travel business . The book is tentatively titled `` Cabin Pressure , '' Bragman said . According to Slater , the incident occurred during the third and final leg of a day of flying for him and his crew , capping three straight days on the road and in the air . While on the ground in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , Slater said his forehead got cut as he worked with a woman trying to wedge an oversized bag into an overhead bin . He said most of the brief Pittsburgh to New York City flight was largely uneventful , though some passengers later said he 'd been rude to them en route . Slater said Tuesday , `` I would n't deny that one bit . I 'm sure my service was less than stellar that day . '' After the plane landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens , Slater said the passenger with the large bag -- which had to be checked as it would n't fit in the overhead bin -- began berating him . With the PA microphone already in hand , he said that he thanked the `` respectful '' passengers on board but not the woman who Slater said had called him a curse word . Slater said he then grabbed a few beers from the beverage cart , looked outside , opened the emergency evacuation slide and slid down . He described his thoughts at the time as a combination of `` pure rage '' and serenity and clarity that `` I did n't need to do this anymore . '' `` I was just thinking , ' I 'm free , I 'm finally free , ' `` he said . `` It was a nice , hot beach day , and I had a couple of cold beers . '' Slater hopped in his car and drove to his Belle Harbor , New York , home , where police came and arrested him a few hours later . A self-described `` recovering alcoholic , '' Slater said he had `` a few sips '' of an alcoholic beverage while on the late-morning flight , but he denied he was drunk . Almost hours after it became public , the episode became a national phenomenon . His `` take this job and shove it '' sentiment stirred support from hundreds of thousands of fans online , on talk radio , on late-night talk shows and elsewhere , as well as strong opinions about Slater , travel stress and the perceived growing rudeness of people . The son of an American Airlines pilot and flight attendant , Slater said that he 'd been a flight attendant for 20 years for TWA , Delta and ultimately JetBlue before that airline suspended him after this summer 's incident . Being a flight attendant had changed significantly in that time , he claimed , becoming more stressful , less satisfying and less rewarding -- for people like himself as well as passengers . Slater said he was set to work a return flight for TWA Flight 800 before it crashed in July 1996 minutes after taking off from New York . He got counseling after that crash , which killed several friends , and after the September 11 terrorist attacks . `` The days of the pillbox hat and the white gloves are long gone , '' he said . `` I think of myself as someone who reached the end of the rope and may not have handled it the best way ... but I 'm moving forward . '' Slater himself says he was taken aback by the media frenzy and found humor in some of the potshots . `` It 's surreal , it 's very strange , '' he said . `` I kind of remind myself that ( Steven Slater ) has been a two-dimensional media , Internet-created figure . This is my chance to become a little more three-dimensional . '' Watch Larry King Live Monday through Sunday 9pm ET . For the latest from Larry King Live click here .
Steven Slater was ` ` angry '' when he , a passenger , exited via an evacuation door . The flight attendant became a pop culture icon after the incident . Slater has struck a deal to co - write a book , tentatively titled , ` ` Cabin Pressure '' He 's plead guilty to two counts of criminal assault , and must get counseling , and a fine .