A 33-year-old man from Leominster has been arrested, accused of trying to open an emergency exit door and trying to stab a flight attendant while on board a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston over the weekend, officials announced.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts shared details on this incident in a statement on Monday.
Officials said the incident happened aboard a plane on Sunday. Officials said the flight crew received an alarm roughly 45 minutes before landing, alerting them that a side door had been disarmed.
“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 U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Officials said a fellow flight attendant said he saw Francisco Severo Torres, 33, near the door, saying he believed Torres tampered with it.
When confronted, officials said Torres allegedly responded by asking if there were cameras showing the incident.
Officials said a flight attendant told the plane’s 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 soon got out of his seat, allegedly thrusting toward a flight attendant with a broken metal spoon.
Officials said Torres hit the flight attendant in the “neck area” three times before passengers tackled and restrained him with help from the flight crew.
Torres was arrested Sunday evening at Logan International Airport and detained pending a subsequent hearing following an initial court appearance on Monday.
He has been charged with one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon.
According to court documents, Torres told officials he believed the flight attendant was trying to kill him.
“So, he was trying to kill the flight attendant first,” documents said.
United responded in a statement.
“Thanks to the quick action of our crew and customers, one customer was restrained after becoming a security concern on United flight 2609 from Los Angeles to Boston,” the airline said.
United said the flight landed safely and was met by law enforcement. United said no serious injuries were reported.
“We have zero tolerance for any type of violence on our flights, and this customer will be banned from flying on United pending an investigation,” United said.
United said it is cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation.
This incident on Sunday came hours before another incident on Monday where two United planes made contact on the tarmac at Logan Airport, with one plane’s wing clipping the tail of the other plane.