By COLLEEN LONG
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - A former JetBlue flight attendant accused of cursing out a passenger and sliding down an emergency exit chute is working on a plea deal.

Steven Slater appeared Tuesday in a New York City courtroom for a brief hearing on criminal mischief charges. Attorneys on both sides said a deal was being discussed.

He also was charged with reckless endangerment and trespassing after last month's meltdown aboard a JetBlue Airways Corp. flight from Pittsburgh that had just landed at Kennedy International Airport.

Defense attorney Daniel Horwitz has said the passenger's "lack of civility" prompted Slater's behavior Aug. 9.

He left JetBlue last week.