Man Tries to Take Over Plane and Stab Flight Attendant – Watch Video
Passengers on a United Airlines flight en route to Boston had to tackle a 33-year-old man who attempted to stab a flight attendant with a broken spoon on Sunday. During a 5-hour and 30-minute flight to Boston, Massachusetts, from Los Angeles, a passenger named Francisco Severo Torres started yelling and ranting about “taking over the plane.”
Torress, a resident of Leominister, was captured on camera shouting on the plane and asking if there was any security onboard or anyone who would stop him. At one point, he seemed to argue with the passengers while saying that the SWAT would have to shoot him down to stop him because he would kill everyone.
Shortly after walking out into the aisle, he quickly approached where a flight attendant stood, and the attack began soon after. Torres tried to stab the flight attendant in the neck three times using a sharp metal spoon with the bowl end broken off. He was thereafter arrested at Logan Airport Sunday evening after the flight landed safely, and he is restricted from using United Airlines while the investigation is ongoing.
According to CBS News, citing information from investigators and prosecutors, Torress attempted to open an emergency exit door and attack a flight attendant when she confronted him. The side door between first class and coach had been unlocked 45 minutes prior to landing, according to the cockpit alarm that went off.
A Boston police officer disclosed that the “passengers tackled TORRES to the ground and he was restrained with the assistance of the flight crew.” The police later learned from the passengers that Torres was inquiring about the location of the door handle for the emergency exit before the plane departed.
According to Torres, who told the authorities that he thought the flight attendant was going to murder him, he broke the spoon in the restroom to use as a weapon and tried to kill the flight attendant before she could kill him.
Torres is charged with one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon. He appeared in Boston federal court on Monday and must return to court on Thursday.
Watch the video of the incident below:
