United Passenger Tries To Open Exit, Stabs Flight Attendant In Neck With Spoon

United Passenger Tries To Open Exit, Stabs Flight Attendant In Neck With Spoon

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My goodness, what is wrong with people?! We now have video footage of what happened from the incident I wrote about yesterday…

Man disarms exit door, attacks flight attendant

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts has announced that a man has been arrested and charged, following his behavior on a flight. Specifically, 33-year-old Francisco Severo Torres was traveling on a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Boston (BOS) on Sunday, March 5, 2023. This was flight number 2609, operated by a 24-year-old Boeing 757-200 with the registration code N67134.

Torres was arrested on Sunday evening at Boston Logan Airport, and now has a hearing set for March 9, 2023. Here’s what happened, according to the charging documents:

  • Around 45 minutes before landing, the flight crew received an alarm in the cockpit that a starboard side door located between first class and economy class was 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 toward the unlocked position
  • The flight attendant reported this to the captain and flight crew after securing the door and emergency slide
  • Another flight attendant had reported that he observed Torres near the door, and believed Torres had tampered with it
  • A flight attendant confronted Torres about this, and he responded by asking if there were cameras showing that he had done so
  • The flight attendants then informed the captain that they felt Torres posed a threat to the aircraft, and that the plane needed to land as soon as possible
  • Shortly thereafter, Torres approached the door where the flight attendants were standing, and Torres then thrust toward one of the flight attendants in a stabbing motion with a broken metal spoon, hitting the flight attendant on the neck area three times
  • Passengers then tackled Torres, and he was restrained with the assistance of the flight crew

In interviews following the flight, other passengers who were aboard reported that Torres had asked fellow passengers where on the safety card it showed where the door handle was located. Furthermore, Torres had been seen pacing in the galley.

For those not familiar with the concept of aircraft doors being armed and disarmed, let me briefly explain, as this is a safety feature. When a plane is at the gate, the doors are disarmed, and that means that the emergency slides won’t be deployed in the event that a door is opened. Meanwhile if the doors are armed, that means that a slide will deploy in the event that the door is opened (since you’d only open an armed door if there’s an emergency).

Video of passenger attacking flight attendant with spoon

A passenger who was on this flight has uploaded a video to social media, showing the moment that the passenger attacked the flight attendant. You can hear the passenger screaming and explaining he’s not going to kill anyone, and that he’s Balthazar, “as renamed by God.” He then says he’s “taking over this plane,” then walks up the aisle, and attacks the flight attendant.

The person who captured the video claims that he had previously been talking about Nazis and raping women. Apparently he had also said:

  • “Tell them to bring SWAT to shoot me down because they’re gonna have to shoot me down today”
  • “Where are they diverting us because wherever it is, it’s gonna be a bloodbath”
  • “Where’s Homeland Security with the gun because I’m waiting for them to point the gun at me so that I can show everybody that I won’t die when I take every bullet in that clip to wherever in my body, they shoot it and then I will kill every man on this plane”

Hopefully this guy can get the help he needs, while also not being in a position to do something like this to others again.

The charges that the United Airlines passenger faces

Torres now faces the charge of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon. This provides a sentence of up to life in prison, up to five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on sentencing guidelines and statutes, which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Bottom line

A United Airlines passenger attempted to disarm the exit door on a Boeing 757-200. Then when confronted about it, he stabbed one of the flight attendants in the neck multiple time with a broken metal spoon.

This is truly strange behavior, and based on the video, I imagine there must have been some sort of substance involved. It’s noteworthy that the guy had allegedly been asking about the door handle at the beginning of the flight, and then later on ended up trying to disarm the door. We don’t actually know when he disarmed the door, though — it’s possible it happened early on in the flight, or it could have happened shortly before the crew noticed.

It’s quite sad what dangers flight attendants seem to face nowadays while just going about their jobs…

What do you make of this very strange incident?

Conversations (72)
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  1. iamhere Guest

    Now they will likely ban metal forks.

  2. dave Guest

    i read that the man was arrested in Boston and released

  3. Steven E Guest

    Ben it seems that your site has bee infiltrated by a member of the CCP

  4. Volleyball New Member

    Sounds like a Frontier passenger forgot they were on an United flight...

  5. George Guest

    Schizophrenia
    Psychotic delirium
    Delusions of grandeur

    People with symptoms like these are so common, but society seems to push it under the rug..

    1. glenn t Diamond

      hmm..... sounds like a recent entrant to the Ex-Presidents Club.

  6. Francisco C Guest

    Good to see several passengers ready to take this guy down.

  7. Aussie Guest

    Drugs/mental illness my ass. He’s just a feral animal.

    Trump was right. Build the wall.

    1. YinDaoYan Diamond

      Wow, it's hard to express more ignorance and hatred in four short sentences.

      1. Dismissive attitude toward a major topic of societal concern that could be solved with greater collective awareness and empathy

      2. Debasement of a human being

      3. Praise for the most bigoted U.S. President in history

      4. Advocacy for an expensive and inefficient solution to an artificial problem (we're all humans; country borders are artificial divisions between members of a single species...

      Wow, it's hard to express more ignorance and hatred in four short sentences.

      1. Dismissive attitude toward a major topic of societal concern that could be solved with greater collective awareness and empathy

      2. Debasement of a human being

      3. Praise for the most bigoted U.S. President in history

      4. Advocacy for an expensive and inefficient solution to an artificial problem (we're all humans; country borders are artificial divisions between members of a single species and should be opened worldwide to free movement)

    2. Icarus Guest

      Build a wall to keep trump supporters/Americans out

  8. Tim G Guest

    ..." I imagine there must have been some sort of substance involved."
    Ben why speculate? He could be suffering from a mental health issue, nothing to do with substances.

    1. lasdiner Guest

      you beed to be on something to leave LA for Boston

    2. YinDaoYan Diamond

      you beed to be on something to leave LA for Boston

      Unless you're a student going to university. LA (or California in general) is surprisingly weak in the quantity of good schools. Sure you've got Caltech, Stanford, Berkeley and UCLA spread across the Golden State, but metro Boston alone has Harvard, MIT, Wellesley, BU, BC, Northeastern and no doubt other institutions with lower profiles but outstanding resources.

    3. lasdiner Guest

      I know
      I come from The School
      But most of us for warmer climate and opportunities BOS doesn’t offer
      As per Aussie’s comments, yes they are out of line, but mental illness is far more prevalent among immigrants, even more so illegal ones, and awareness and empathy alone won’t do, I am afraid. Citizens, taxpayers and a modern community as a whole need a plan, besides a more human collective attitude

  9. Mohammed Guest

    Another case of US flight crew provoking passengers and creating a big deal from nothing. Someone needs to send them to Qatar or Hong Kong to teach them how to deal with people

    1. JDee Diamond

      Flight Attendant obviously lunged at him with his neck causing the passenger to defend himself with the broken spoon.../s (just in case)

  10. Jeff Guest

    You didn’t say anything about the injuries to the flight attendant - hope that they were OK!

  11. Matthew Guest

    This is terrifying. I hope he never flies again and gets a big sentence.

    1. YinDaoYan Diamond

      You seem to have a punitive mindset and wish the worst outcomes for your fellow human beings.

  12. D3kingg Guest

    It’s amazing how none of these misbehaving passengers happen on my flight. Or any flights to Texas or Oklahoma for that matter.

    1. YinDaoYan Diamond

      TX and OK are not worth flying to. The interesting parts of the US are all on the coasts, and even then, only in hotspots:

      - West: Seattle, SF, LA /honorable mentions to Portland and San Diego
      - East: Boston, NYC, DC /honorable mentions to Philly and Miami

    2. Koggerj Guest

      All those cities are crime infested cesspools

    3. YinDaoYan Diamond

      I can see how you would come away with that impression if your media diet is all right-wing falsehood networks.

    4. Peter Guest

      What about Chicago- that’s a solid hotspot.

  13. Marc Norden Guest

    forget about the silverware.....this airline uses sharp,pointed,wooden cocktail stir sticks in First Class. Easily could inflict major damage to a person.

  14. ray Guest

    He was interrupted while opening the door in flight or its harder to open than we think?
    Perhaps he got cold feet at the thought of exiting the aircraft before landing?

    1. YinDaoYan Diamond

      Opening the door at altitude is impossible due to air pressure differences.

  15. George Romey Guest

    Tells me the real threat to aviation isn't "terrorist" but the ever growing number of people, particularly Americans with mental illness.

    1. D3kingg Guest

      @George Romey

      Let’s agree to disagree. Make no mistake there are still “terrorist” threats of people from Middle East origin. Boston marathon bombing , 7/7 London Underground attacks , Orlando pulse night club , running over cyclists and pedestrians in NYC , etc. all pledged allegiance to a jihadist group. The failed plane bombers post 9/11 ; shoe bomber , liquid bomber , and Nigerian bomber all failed to detonate. Thank god.

    2. YinDaoYan Diamond

      Let's not agree to disagree. Romey is right on the mental health angle.

    3. lasdiner Guest

      They can pledge allegiance to the New England Patriots if they want bit they’re still people with mental health issues who reside legally on US soil. They’re terrifying but not terrorists

    4. Icarus Guest

      Why is it so many Americans don’t consider attacks on their countries soil as terrorism. They are terrorists.

    5. Julia Guest

      Nah, you only wanting to call people from the Middle East terrorists is appalling.

      For example, why is it the Orlando Pulse night club shooter get to be called a terroriss, but not other US based shooters?

    6. D3kingg Guest

      @Juliah

      Yea. When you shoot up a nightclub and then pledge your allegiance to ISIS during a 911 call and to the news then you’re an Arab “terrorist”. George Romey is the one that labeled this person a “terrorist.” It’s not racist at all. It comes from the Middle East.

    7. Julia Guest

      It is racist when you only apply that designation to people from the Middle East or Americans whose ethnicity is from the Middle East. Also, George wasn't the one who labeled him a "terrorist", but nice try deflecting anyway.

    8. D3kingg Guest

      @Julia

      The article is about a disruptive passenger. George is the one that brought up the term “terrorist”. Again. So no. Nothing racist when a terrorist announces they support a terrorist organization in the Middle East after committing an attack on innocent people. It came from the Middle East.

      Countries on the terrorist list :
      Afghanistan
      Iraq
      Nigeria
      Syria
      Somalia
      Yemen
      Pakistan

    9. Julia Guest

      Except he wasn't the one using the word to describe the passenger or people from certain parts of the word. Again. So no.

      YOU are the one who keeps bringing it up and keeps using the word to describe people from certain parts of the world.

      And yes it is racist when you only use to describe acts committed by people from certain parts of the world and not others.

      And saying it came from the Middle East is extremely asinine.

    10. Pudu Guest

      @D3kingg How would you describe Tim McVeigh? Even among the racist trash that infests this site you stand out for being absolutely worthless.

  16. Jose Torres Guest

    Oh, Finally someone NOT named Abdul!

    1. Billy Bob Guest

      What's Paula got to do with anything?

    2. Attila Guest

      That wasn’t Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the cockpit—it was Roger Murdock…yeah, that’s it.

  17. Guy Guest

    The thought that there will be some low-life lawyer defending this guy in the court room equally disturbs me...

    1. YinDaoYan Diamond

      Defense attorneys are the bedrock of our civilized society.

    2. Rational Person Guest

      Yeah, jump in a lake "Guy." I suppose in your civilized society it'd just be the lynch mob. Now that I think about it I expect you've been hoping for a good ol' fashioned lynching for quite a while.

    3. glenn t Diamond

      Defense lawyers are not necessarily aiming to get the crime aquitted. It's more about preventing rogue prosecutors from demanding inapproptiate or outlandish sentences.
      If you are not in a position to go jurisdictional judge-shopping in the USA you could find yourself banged up for 30 years in some states for shoplifting, or the like.
      This guy needs to be treated for a mental health disorder, not chucked into a prison where it won't happen in a million years.

  18. Rufus Guest

    So some asshat clearly had wanted to do something nefarious. Asked the question about the arming handle. Clearly they had some indication he was the one who moved the handle, and then reacted by assaulting and battering the FA. More importantly is that he somehow was able to get near the door. What would happen if he were able to disarm and open this door. I would thing not good things, so we were near...

    So some asshat clearly had wanted to do something nefarious. Asked the question about the arming handle. Clearly they had some indication he was the one who moved the handle, and then reacted by assaulting and battering the FA. More importantly is that he somehow was able to get near the door. What would happen if he were able to disarm and open this door. I would thing not good things, so we were near a disaster or at least an airborne emergency.

    Throw the book at this clown, get the appropriate witnesses to testify and let him try it again in lets say.... never.

    1. Michael Guest

      Nothing would have happened. He would not have been able to open the door. The door has to move inward at the beginning, against the air pressure pushing on it, to the tune of about seven pounds per square inch. That's about 18,000 pounds of force pushing the door into the frame, that he'd have to overcome.

  19. Blanca mena Guest

    Hope he's not bipolar!

  20. Joanne Reg Guest

    Booze is back on the planes. Doesn't help these type of things...

    1. YinDaoYan Diamond

      Are you a certified mental health professional? Or are you in fact unqualified to make ignorant claims such as this?

    2. Icarus Guest

      So many Americans have mental health issues. And yes, alcohol not medication won’t help.

  21. GS 3M Guest

    Throw the book at the moron and ban him from flying on any airline (once he gets out of jail). Hopefully, the flight attendant is ok? That is the most important part of the incident.

    1. YinDaoYan Diamond

      Attitudes like yours are exactly why there's stigma against mental health treatment. If only the 3M miles you've flown could teach you anything about the value of all human beings.

    2. GS 3M Guest

      I’d prefer the a$$hat be in an institution getting the help he/she needs and not on an aircraft. Is that so difficult for you to understand? Glad you have compassion for the professional doing their job.

    3. YinDaoYan Diamond

      That's a different position than what you originally expressed ("jail" which very much does NOT help anybody).

      Please read up on the prison abolition movement and why it makes sense for our country which is notorious for inhumane treatment of prisoners who are still human beings. Is that so difficult for you to understand? Prisoners in Western Europe, many of whom have committed far more violent crimes than what happened on this aircraft, are accommodated...

      That's a different position than what you originally expressed ("jail" which very much does NOT help anybody).

      Please read up on the prison abolition movement and why it makes sense for our country which is notorious for inhumane treatment of prisoners who are still human beings. Is that so difficult for you to understand? Prisoners in Western Europe, many of whom have committed far more violent crimes than what happened on this aircraft, are accommodated in facilities exceeding the sanitation and building standards of most Motel 6 properties. If we're not going to do that (and in the US, surely not), then we need to find ways other than imprisonment.

    4. Billy Bob Guest

      Could just shoot them.

    5. Icarus Guest

      The US has the worst penal system in the industrialised world and highest percentage of its own citizens behind bars.

  22. Never In Doubt Guest

    "What do you make of this very strange incident?"

    Time to remove spoons from aircraft. Obviously.

    1. Santastico Diamond

      LOL!! Well, that's what will probably happen when you have stupid politicians making decisions. No more water bottle. Remove shoes. Remove spoons. Hopefully nobody will use an underwear as a treat.

    2. YinDaoYan Diamond

      "Stupid politicians" in America were elected by their constituents.

    3. Ryu2 Guest

      There was already an Underwear Bomber in 2009, thats why we have full body scanners

    4. JetBlueFanboy Guest

      Yep, time to start the war on spoons!

  23. Santastico Diamond

    You can search online but 9 out of 10 adult Americans believe there is a mental health crisis in this country. That explains events like this.

    1. Never In Doubt Guest

      There's always been crazy people. It's just much easier to hear about the crazy sh*t they do now.

    2. YinDaoYan Diamond

      What Americans believe is immaterial. The vast majority of Americans are not qualified to opine on anything that pertains to mental health.

    3. DCS Guest

      Oh, lord. Somebody is using a chatbot to spam the comments again. Or are you the dude that tried to open the door?

    4. Creditcrunch Diamond

      Just Google YinDaoYan ( infection of ..) you can kind of work out who these trolls are by the way they formulate posts and articulate responses, don’t feed them.

    5. Mark Guest

      How nice to have a chat bot responding to messages

    6. John Guest

      What is a chatbot?

      Thank you for your help.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

YinDaoYan Diamond

Defense attorneys are the bedrock of our civilized society.

9
YinDaoYan Diamond

TX and OK are not worth flying to. The interesting parts of the US are all on the coasts, and even then, only in hotspots: - West: Seattle, SF, LA /honorable mentions to Portland and San Diego - East: Boston, NYC, DC /honorable mentions to Philly and Miami

6
YinDaoYan Diamond

Wow, it's hard to express more ignorance and hatred in four short sentences. 1. Dismissive attitude toward a major topic of societal concern that could be solved with greater collective awareness and empathy 2. Debasement of a human being 3. Praise for the most bigoted U.S. President in history 4. Advocacy for an expensive and inefficient solution to an artificial problem (we're all humans; country borders are <strong>artificial divisions between members of a single species</strong> and should be opened worldwide to free movement)

5
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