That's from the New York Post, which reports a Transportation Security Administration screener was arrested at New York JFK for allegedly "hurling a cup of hot coffee at an American Airlines pilot who told her and some colleagues to tone down a profanity- laced conversation in a terminal … ."

The Post cited unnamed sources in reporting the incident, which is said to have occurred March 28. The newspaper apparently first learned of it this week.

The spat apparently began when 54-year-old American Airlines pilot Steven Trivett was leaving JFK's Terminal 8 and overheard the screeners' conversation.

The Post's sources say Trivett admonished the screeners, suggesting they behave more professionally while in uniform. Trivett also told the screeners he thought they should "not use profanity or the n-word" while on the job, one of the Post's sources said.

That's when things escalated, according to the Post. One screener allegedly cursed at the pilot and told him to "mind his own business." When the pilot tried to grab at the ID badge of 30-year-old TSA officer Lateisha El, she pushed him and threw a full cup of hot coffee on him, according to the Post's unnamed sources.

The pilot was not seriously injured. El now faces harassment and misdemeanor assault charges, the the Post says.

As for the TSA, it says it is investigating the incident. The agency 0ffers this explanation to the Gothamist.com:

TSA holds our employees to the highest professional standards and has a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior at airport checkpoints. TSA is looking into this incident and will take swift and appropriate action. The unacceptable behavior of a few individuals in no way reflects the dedication of our nearly 50,000 Transportation Security Officers who work tirelessly to keep our skies safe. As you are aware, a TSA officer at that very same airport this week detected an artfully concealed knife hidden inside a jar of mayonnaise that a passenger was trying to sneak on board an aircraft. That is much more reflective of the type of dedicated work our officers perform regularly.

"My thought, there is nothing more unprofessional than TSA field employees"

sailor

 

They pay these muppets enough that they can afford to throw good coffee away? Amazing!

 

LaTehsia needs to switch to decaf.

 

Known Crewmember line, how I love thee.

 

Now we know the origins of the liquid ban at the checkpoint... it CAN be used as a weapon after all!

 

Apparently the pilot tried to read the ID Badge, not grab it. Writers are not what they used to be and I'm sure the TSA personnel exaggerated the report to attempt to paint the pilot as the aggressor.

 

This has got to be the dumbest (and funniest) attempt to save face that I've seen in a while.

 

Several weeks ago while passing through ORD I overheard two TSA screeners going on break dropping "F" bombs in every other word of their conversation while surrounded by passengers. This incident took place right in front of a screening checkpoint as these two bozos were leaving for their break so I found a TSA stupivisor and informed him about what I had just witnessed. The stupivisor gave me a puzzled look until I expressed concern about the two screeners using profanity while on duty in front of our passengers. Suddenly the stupivisor saw the light and said, "Thanks for pointing those two out to me. It's very important for us to maintain a professional image and not use language like that in public earshot while in uniform. I'll go over and kick the sh*t out of them right now". I just walked away shaking my head in disbelief. Some people just don't get it I guess.

 

I can relate. I had one get so close to me at JFK I told "Dude, your face is way too close to my face". He was well inside the " fight or f$@& zone"!!!!

 

Just had this guy on my Jumpseat and saw the video. Its awesome! Clearly shows what really happened.