The passenger allegedly yelled that he would “kill every man on this plane” and “I’m taking over this plane” during the March 5, 2023, incident on a United Airlines aircraft
A man has pleaded guilty after attempting to stab a flight attendant in the neck with a broken metal spoon while on board a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston on March 5, 2023
Francisco Severo Torres, 34, of Leominster, Massachusetts, has also been accused of tampering with one of the doors on the aircraft, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts, said in a press release
The suspect could face a sentence of up to life in prison, up to five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, the release stated
A man from Massachusetts has pleaded guilty after attempting to stab a flight attendant in the neck with a broken metal spoon and allegedly trying to open a door mid-flight, authorities have said.
On March 5, 2023, Francisco Severo Torres, 34, of Leominster, Mass., was a passenger aboard a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston when he was accused of tampering with an airplane door around 45 minutes prior to landing, a Tuesday, May 13 U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts press release stated.
He then allegedly yelled that he would “kill every man on this plane” and “I’m taking over this plane,” before being accused of 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,” the release recalled.
According to the Associated Press, no one was injured during the incident, citing court documents.
On Tuesday, Torres “pleaded guilty to one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon,” the office of the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts confirmed.’
Torres, who was immediately taken into custody upon the flight’s arrival at Boston Logan International Airport following the incident, was initially charged by criminal complaint on March 6, 2023, before he was indicted by a federal grand jury in September of that year.
Once the cabin door had allegedly been tampered with on the flight, “the crew received an alarm in the cockpit that a starboard side door located between the first class and coach sections of the aircraft was disarmed,” the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts said in the release.
The post continued, “Upon inspection, a flight attendant found that the door’s locking handle had been moved out of the fully locked position – approximately a quarter of the way towards the unlocked position — and that the emergency slide arming lever had been moved to the ‘disarmed’ position. The flight attendant reported this to the captain and flight crew after securing the door and emergency slide.”
A flight attendant who had allegedly witnessed Torres near the door notified the captain that they thought the passenger “posed a threat to the aircraft” and that they needed to land “as soon as possible.”
“Shortly thereafter, Torres got out of his seat and approached the starboard side door where two flight attendants were standing in the aisle,” the release said, adding that that’s when the suspect went to attack the flight attendant, before he was tackled by fellow passengers and restrained with the assistance of flight crew.
The office of the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts stated that during subsequent interviews, passengers had reportedly said that Torres had “asked a fellow passenger where on the safety card it showed where the door handle was located during the flight attendants’ safety briefing prior to takeoff.”
He’s also thought to have been “seen pacing in a galley before attacking the flight attendant,” per the release.
