A man in Massachusetts was arrested on Monday for reportedly trying to stab a flight attendant in the neck three times with a broken metal spoon during a flight heading to Boston from Los Angeles.
Francisco Severo Torres, 33, is charged with interfering with flight crew members and attendants with a dangerous weapon. He was apprehended at Boston Logan International Airport on Monday and will be remanded until his hearing on Thursday.
According to the Justice Department, the flight crew noticed an alarm indicating that a door in the plane had been disarmed. Upon inspection, a flight attendant discovered that the door's locking handle had been pushed out of the fully locked position, and an emergency slide arming lever had been disarmed.
According to the department, a flight attendant who saw Torres near the door approached him about it and asked if cameras showed he had tampered with it.
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"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," the Justice Department said.
Torres allegedly got out of his seat, mouthing something, before ramming "towards one of the flight attendants stabbing them with a broken metal spoon, hitting the flight attendant on the neck three times.
According to the complaint, Torres told investigators he was defending himself and tried to stab the flight attendant because he thought they were trying to kill him.
Following this incident, United Airlines has barred Torres from flying on future flights.
"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," United said in a statement.
"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. We are cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation," the statement says.
