Steven Slater says he activated the emergency chute on a JetBlue flight at Kennedy Airport because he “needed to go” in a way he “knew was final.”

The former flight attendant told the CBS “Early Show” Wednesday he knew if he went out the front door he “was probably coming right back.”

Slater said he felt a “slow burn” while coping with a crowd of rushed passengers on the Aug. 9 flight from Pittsburgh.

On NBC’s “Today,” Slater said he’d been out the night before and was sleep deprived.

But he told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he was never impaired.

Slater avoided jail under a plea bargain that requires him to undergo counseling and substance-abuse treatment. He must pay $10,000 in restitution to JetBlue Airways Corp.