BOSTON — A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to attacking a flight attendant with a broken metal spoon after trying to open an airliner’s emergency door on a Boston-bound flight in 2023.
Francisco Severo Torres, 34, of Leominster, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement on Tuesday.
U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris scheduled sentencing for July 17.
Torres was charged by criminal complaint in March 2023 following his arrest at Boston Logan International Airport. A federal grand jury subsequently indicted Torres in September 2023.
On March 5, 2023, Torres was a passenger aboard a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston.
The flight was just 45 minutes from landing at Logan Airport when the scary moments on board happened. The flight crew received an alarm in the cockpit that a starboard side door located between the first class and coach sections of the aircraft was disarmed.
Video captured by Lisa Olsen, who was seated a couple of rows in front of Torres on the 2023 flight, showed Torres hurling threats before charging at a flight attendant with a broken metal spoon. Federal investigators said at the time that Torres struck her three times in the neck area.
Olsen said at the time that Torres had somehow managed to break out of zip tie restraints.
The cell phone video shows Torres yelling threats that he would “kill every man on this plane” and “I’m taking over this plane.”
“Tell them to bring SWAT because they’re going to have to shoot me down today,” Torres is heard saying in the video. “Where are they diverting us? Because wherever it is, there’s going to be a bloodbath everywhere.”
During those harrowing moments in the air, 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 towards the towards the unlocked position – and that the emergency slide arming lever had been moved to the “disarmed” position.
The flight attendant reported this to the captain and flight crew after securing the door and emergency slide.
Another flight attendant then reported that he had witnessed Torres near the door and believed Torres had tampered with the door.
A flight attendant then confronted Torres about tampering with the door, to which he responded by asking if there were cameras showing that he had done so, prosecutors said.
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.
A short time later, Torres got out of his seat and approached the starboard side door where two flight attendants were standing in the aisle, prosecutors said. One of the flight attendants saw Torres mouthing something that he could not hear.
“Torres then thrust towards one of the flight attendants in a stabbing motion with a broken metal spoon, hitting the flight attendant on the neck area three times,” Foley said in her statement.
Passengers tackled Torres and he was restrained with the assistance of the flight crew. Torres was immediately taken into custody by state police upon the flight’s arrival at Logan Airport.
Passengers who were aboard the flight later reported that Torres asked a fellow passenger where on the safety card it showed where the door handle was located during the flight attendants’ safety briefing prior to takeoff. They also reported seeing Torres pacing in a galley before attacking the flight attendant.
Following his arrest in 2023, Torres was also accused of attacking two guards at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island, where he was being held. According to court documents, Torres struck the officer in the face a few times.
Torres faces a sentence of up to life in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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