Man arrested for stabbing United flight attendant, attempting to open emergency exit door aboard flight to Boston, Feds say

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A man has been arrested and charged for allegedly attempting to open an emergency exit door while aboard a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston and then allegedly attempting to stab a flight attendant in the neck, according to a statement made by the U.S. Attorney’s office, District of Massachusetts.

Francisco Severo Torres, 33, was charged with one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants use of a dangerous weapon. Torres was arrested Sunday night at Boston Logan Airport.

His initial appearance before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Dein on Monday ordered that he be detained pending a hearing March 9.

According to the charging documents, Torres was a passenger aboard a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston March 5.  Less than an hour before landing,  \flight crew received an alarm in the cockpit that an emergency exit door located between the first class and coach sections of the aircraft was disarmed.

A flight attendant found that the door’s locking handle had been moved out of the fully locked 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, according to officials.

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

Torres allegedly then got out of his seat when he allegedly approached two flight attendants who were standing in the aisle. Torres then allegedly thrust 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.

Passengers then tackled Torres and he was restrained with the assistance of flight crew. Torres was immediately taken into custody upon the flight’s arrival to Boston, officials said.

The charge of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon provides for a sentence of up to life in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case, officials said.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; John E. Mawn Jr., Interim Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police; and Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox made the announcement Monday.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Elianna J. Nuzum of Rollins’ Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.