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Accused Fire-Setting Flight Attendant Disappears from Halfway House, Skips Court Appearance

Eder Rojas, a 19-year-old former Compass Airlines flight attendant accused of starting a fire in an airplane's lavatory while in flight, has slipped away from a Fargo halfway house and skipped a court appearance that was scheduled for Friday. Authorities have no idea where he is, but if there was any doubt in the court of public opinion that Rojas has a couple of screws loose in his noggin and shouldn't have a position of authority on an aircraft, it's pretty much gone now. Just like Rojas.

The charges stem from a May 7 flight from Minneapolis to Regina, during which Rojas allegedly used a lighter to set fire to some paper towels in the plane's lavatory because he was upset at having to work the route. The fire was extinguished and the plane diverted to Fargo with no injuries but plenty of white knuckles. You don't want a fire on your airplane.

It makes us wonder, were there no warning signs during his hiring and training process of his (allegedly) unstable mind? Did anybody in the chain of command get a feeling that Rojas was a little bit "off" and might not be the best fit for a job in which people's lives are on the line every day? We're 100% behind every measure that protects people from workplace bias, but in a position where so much is on the line, we'd hope that any glimmer of destructive behavior in a candidate would be addressed aggressively.

Related Stories:
· Attendant Charged in Fire a No-Show in Court [Canadian Press]
· Eder Rojas Profile [MySpace]
· Eder Rojas Coverage [Jaunted]