The Justice Department announced the arrested of a Massachusetts man after he allegedly attempted to stab a flight attendant in the neck multiple times and open one of the emergency exit doors of the plane during a flight from Los Angeles to Boston on Monday, March 6.
33-year-old Francisco Severo Torres is now facing charges of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members using a dangerous weapon. After the plane landed at the Boston Logan International Airport, Torres was arrested and will remain detained until a hearing scheduled for later in the week.
According to the Justice Department, the flight crew noticed that an alarm indicating that a door in the plane was disarmed and discovered the door’s locking handle was pushed out of the locked position.
The Justice Department stated:
“According to court documents, the flight attendant then notified the captain that they believed Torres posed a threat to the aircraft and that the captain needed to land the aircraft as soon as possible.”
At this point, Torres was seen getting out of his seat mouthing something before thrusting “towards one of the flight attendants in a stabbing motion with a broken metal spoon, hitting the flight attendant on the neck area three times.”
Thankfully, passengers were able to tackle Torres to the ground and restrain him until the plane landed.
Torres told investigators that he broke a spoon in half in the bathroom on the plane with the intention of using it as a weapon and “had gotten the idea” to jump out of the plane by opening the emergency door.
According to Torres, he was attempting to defend himself from the flight attendants, who he believes were trying to kill him.
United Airlines released a statement regarding the incident:
“Thanks to the quick action of our crew and customers, one customer was restrained after becoming a security concern on United flight 2609 from Los Angeles to Boston. We have zero tolerance for any type of violence on our flights, and this customer will be banned from flying on United pending an investigation. We are cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation.”
The flight successfully landed and no injuries were reported from the incident.
