A Leominster, Massachusetts man has been arrested and charged for allegedly attempting to open an emergency exit door while aboard a United Airlines flight before stabbing a flight attendant, according to prosecutors.
Francisco Severo Torres, 33, was charged with one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon, U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins’s office said in a statement on March 6.
Torres, who had been on a flight from Los Angeles to Boston, was arrested on Sunday at Boston Logan International Airport after his flight landed.
He made an initial appearance on Monday in Federal District Court in Boston and was detained until a hearing set for March 9. If found guilty, he faces a life sentence in prison, up to five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
According to prosecutors, Torres was aboard the United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston when, approximately 45 minutes prior to landing, the flight crew was alerted that an emergency exit door between the first class and coach sections of the aircraft had been disarmed.
Passengers Intervene
Another crew member said they had seen Torres near the door and believed that he had tampered with it. A flight attendant subsequently confronted Torres about his alleged tampering with the door, to which he allegedly responded by asking if there was video proof that he had done so.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, prosecutors said.
However, shortly after, Torres allegedly left his seat and approached the emergency exit door, where two flight attendants were standing. He then allegedly attacked one of them with a broken metal spoon in a “stabbing motion” and “hitting the flight attendant on the neck area three times,” prosecutors said.
After the alleged attack, Torres was tackled and restrained by passengers and flight crew, prosecutors said. He was immediately taken into custody after the flight landed in Boston.
“It is alleged that during subsequent interviews, passengers who were aboard the flight reported that Torres asked a fellow passenger where on the safety card it showed where the door handle was located during the flight attendant’s safety briefing prior to takeoff and that Torres was seen pacing in a galley before attacking the flight attendant,” Rollins’s office said.
No Serious Injuries
It showed a man shouting “So where’s Homeland Security with the gun? Because I’m waiting for them to point the gun at me, so I can show everybody that I won’t die when I take every bullet in that clip to wherever in my body they shoot it, and then I will kill every man on this plane! So where are they?! ... You don’t have Homeland Security. You’re not going to try and stop me? So you’re all cowards?”The man also said: “Where are they diverting us? Because wherever it is, it’s going to be a blood bath everywhere.”
“Thanks to the quick action of our crew and customers, one customer was restrained after becoming a security concern,” the airline said. "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.”
Separately, President Sara Nelson of the Association of Flight Attendants, said in a statement that the union is “proud of the crew of United Flight 2609 and relieved that no one sustained life-threatening physical injuries.”
“Violence has no place anywhere and certainly not in a closed cabin flying several miles in the air,” the statement read. “We’re thankful for the FBI’s quick action on this. This is another example of the urgent need for a national banned disruptive passenger list. We call on Congress to pass the Protection from Abusive Passengers Act.”
It is not immediately clear if Torres has legal representation.
