(LOS ANGELES) — A United Airlines passenger was arrested after he allegedly tried to open a plane emergency exit door and then allegedly tried to stab a flight attendant, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.
The incident took place during a Sunday flight from Los Angeles to Boston.
Francisco Severo Torres, 33, allegedly tried to stab a flight attendant in the neck with a broken metal spoon after he was confronted about tampering with the door, federal prosecutors said. Fellow passengers tackled him and the flight crew helped restrain him, prosecutors said.
The incident began about 45 minutes before the flight landed, when the crew received an alarm about a disarmed door between the first class and coach sections, prosecutors said.
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,” prosecutors said.
After the door was relocked, a flight attendant told his colleagues that he saw Torres by the door and thought he tampered with it, prosecutors said.
A flight attendant then confronted Torres who allegedly “responded by asking if there were cameras showing that he had done so,” prosecutors said.
Torres then allegedly attacked the flight attendant, according to prosecutors.
Torres was charged with one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon, prosecutors said. Torres made an initial appearance in court Monday and was detained. He’s set to return to court on Thursday.
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