Man tries to stab flight attendant in mid-air scare

A passenger on a United Airlines flight attempted to stab a flight attendant

A man from Massachusetts has been arrested after trying to open the emergency door of a flight and stabbing an attendant with a broken spoon. Francisco Severo Torres, 33, was on a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston when he began acting strangely, according to NBC News. His erratic behaviour culminated with him trying to stab a flight attendant, forcing co-passengers to restrain him.

Torres was arrested at Boston's Logan International Airport shortly after the flight landed on Sunday night.

The United Airlines flight was due to land in 45 minutes when crew received an alarm saying an aircraft door had been disarmed. A flight attendant was asked to investigate and found that the door’s locking handle had been moved. The emergency slide arming lever had also been “disarmed.”

Torres had been seen loitering near the door earlier and believed he was responsible for disarming it. When confronted, the Massachusetts man asked if there were cameras nearby to show that he had done it.

According to charging documents filed in court, the flight attendant told the Captain that Torres “posed a threat to the aircraft and that the captain needed to land the aircraft as soon as possible.”

Soon thereafter, Torres began to pace the aisle and started walking towards the flight attendants. He suddenly lunged at “one of the flight attendants in a stabbing motion with a broken metal spoon, hitting the flight attendant on the neck area three times,” court filings revealed.

Passengers jumped up to tackle Torres and managed to restrain him with the help of crew. The 33-year-old had reportedly been acting oddly throughout the flight. According to co-passengers, he had asked where the aircraft’s emergency exit door was located during take-off.

Thanks to the quick action of the crew and passengers, the flight was able to land safely in Boston, where Torres was arrested. His hearing has been slated for March 9.