U.S. Attorney’s Office Says United Airlines Passenger Tried to Knife Flight Attendant

Nate Raymond and David Shepardson

BOSTON (Reuters) – A United Airlines passenger was arrested after attempting to open an emergency exit door on a flight from Los Angeles to Boston on Sunday and then attempted to stab a flight attendant in the neck, US Attorney’s Office said Monday.

Passengers grabbed Francisco Severo Torres, 33, after attempting to stab him, and the flight crew helped restrain him before the plane landed at Boston’s Logan International Airport, prosecutors said.

A judge has ordered the Leominster, Massachusetts resident to be held without bail after initially appearing in court on Monday. Torres is due to hold another hearing on Thursday. Torres’ court-appointed attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

The prosecutor’s office said that about 45 minutes before the flight landed in Boston, the flight crew received an alarm in the cockpit that the door between the first-class cabins and the carriages had been disarmed.

After another flight attendant reported seeing Torres near the door and suspecting Torres tampered with it, a colleague was confronted by a man who asked if any cameras caught him doing it, prosecutors said. Shortly thereafter, Torres attempted to stab the flight attendants with a broken metal spoon, hitting him three times in the neck before Torres was grabbed, prosecutors said.

“We have zero tolerance for violence of any kind on our flights and this customer will be banned from United flights until the investigation is completed,” United Airlines said in a statement. “We are cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation.”

Torres was charged with one count of tampering with and attempting to interfere with flight crew members and flight attendants with a dangerous weapon. He could face life imprisonment if found guilty.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and David Shepardson in Washington; edited by Will Dunham)

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