US man tries to open emergency exit, stabs attendant on neck on flight: Report

A 33-year-old man from Leominster, Massachusetts, has been arrested and charged with attempting to open an emergency exit door on a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston and then attempting to stab a flight attendant in the neck.

Francisco Severo Torres, 33, was accused of trying to use a hazardous weapon to meddle with aircraft attendants and staff members on one count. Torres was detained awaiting a hearing scheduled for March 9, 2023 after being apprehended on Monday night at Boston Logan International Airport.

Torres took a United Airlines aircraft on March 5, 2023, from Los Angeles to Boston, according to the charging documents. The flight crew was alerted in the cockpit about a disarmed side door of the aeroplane 45 minutes before arrival.

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Upon examination, a flight attendant discovered that the emergency slide arming mechanism had been moved to the "disarmed" position and that the door's locking handle had been moved out of the completely secured position.

After locking the door and emergency slide, the flight attendant informed the captain and other members of the staff. In talks that followed, another flight attendant revealed that he had seen Torres close to the door and thought Torres had interfered with it.

A flight attendant then confronted Torres about tampering with the door, to which he allegedly responded by asking if there were cameras showing that he had done so.

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The flight attendant then informed the captain, in accordance with court records, that they thought Torres presented a danger to the plane and that the captain should make a quick landing. It is claimed that shortly after, Torres stood up from his seat and walked over to the starboard side entrance, where two flight attendants were waiting in the hallway.

Torres was heard mouthing something that the flight stewards couldn't hear. Then, according to reports, Torres reportedly stabbed one of the flight hostesses three times in the neck with a shattered metal spoon as he pushed towards her. Torres was then tackled by passengers and restrained with help from the aircraft staff. As soon as the plane touched down in Boston, Torres was arrested.

• Boston
• Los Angeles
• US man
• emergency exit
• flight
• stab
• United Airlines