Video: A man attacks the crew of a plane and tries to open the emergency door

a man of Massachusetts tried to open the airplane emergency door on a cross flight Los Angeles to Boston then attempted to stab a flight attendant in the neck with a broken metal spoon, federal prosecutors alleged Monday.

Francisco Severo Torres33 years old, from Leominsterwas boarded and held with the help of passengers and arrested on Sunday at the Boston Logan International Airport when flight 2609 landed United Airlinesthe US Attorney’s Office in Boston said in a statement.

He was charged with interfering and attempting to interfere with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon, the statement added.

The man was taken into custody in a first appearance in federal court on Monday and is awaiting a hearing scheduled for Thursday. An email seeking comment was left with his federal public defender.

The plane was about 45 minutes from arriving in Boston when the crew received an alarm that a side door of the aircraft was disarmedprosecutors said.

A flight attendant noticed that the door lock handle had moved from the fully locked position about a quarter of the way to the unlocked position and that the emergency slide activation lever had been moved to the disarmed positionauthorities said. The crew secured the door and the slide.

a door on an airplane it cannot be opened once in flight due to cabin pressure.

Another flight attendant noticed Torres standing near the door and believed he had tampered with it, authorities said. The crew told the captain that he posed a threat and that the plane had to land as soon as possible.

At that point, prosecutors say, Torres got up from his seat, approached two flight attendants in the aisle and used the spoon in stabbing motions, punching a flight attendant three times. times in the neck region.

The passengers boarded Torres, who was restrained with the help of the crew.

According to a charging document, Torres told investigators that he walked into the plane’s bathroom and broke a spoon in half to make a weapon.

When he left the bathroom, Torres said he went into the kitchen, disarmed the door and unsuccessfully tried to open it with the idea of ​​jumping out of the plane, according to the document.

Investigators said Torres admitted knowing that if he opened the door, many people would die.

Torres also said he was later confronted by flight attendants and, in an attempt to defend himself, stabbed one of the flight attendants in the neck three or four times, according to investigators. They added that Torres said he believed the flight attendant was trying to kill him, so he was trying to kill the flight attendant first.

Authorities haven’t said where Torres got the spoon, but TSA rules allow airline passengers to bring metal utensils, except knives, on planes.

United Airlines said that No one was hurt.

“Thanks to the quick action of our crew and customers, a customer has been restrained after becoming a safety issue on United Flight 2609 from Los Angeles to Boston,” the company statement read. “The flight landed safely and was met by police.”

The airline said it had a zero-tolerance policy for violence and Torres would be banned from flying with United pending an investigation.

A passenger told investigators that Torres asked where on the safety card he indicated where the door handle was during the flight attendants’ pre-takeoff safety briefing, prosecutors said.

If convicted, he faces life in prison.

There Flight Attendants Association released a statement saying she was proud of United’s flight crew and relieved no one was seriously injured. He said there was an urgent need for a national list of banned passengers.

“Violence has no place anywhere and certainly not in an enclosed cockpit flying many miles in the air,” Sara Nelson, president of the group, said in the statement. He added: “When incidents like this occur, not only is the safety of the crew involved at risk, but the ability of flight attendants to respond to medical or safety emergencies is reduced. Simply put: it puts everyone at risk and there is no tolerance for it.”

(With AP information)

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