BOSTON — An “out-of-control” Massachusetts man who allegedly attacked an attendant after attempting to open a cabin door on a flight to Boston somehow managed to break out of zip tie restraints, a fellow passenger on the plane said.
Francisco Severo Torres, 33, of Leominster, is charged with one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.
While on a United Airlines flight that departed Los Angeles on March 5, Torres tried to open an emergency exit door before charging at a flight attendant with a broken metal spoon, hitting her three times in the neck area, federal investigators said.
Passengers then 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.
One passenger who was seated a couple rows in front of Torres said that crews were forced to place zip tie restraints around his hands due to his “very combative” behavior, but they proved unsuccessful.
“I don’t know if they didn’t, you know, get them on tight enough. I don’t know exactly what happened if he busted out of them or if he just, you know, wiggled out of them,” Lisa Olsen said.
Olsen added that the first five hours of the flight were “quiet,” but that the commotion started about 30 minutes prior to landing when Torres started rambling about his “father being Dracula” and the “Nazis.”
Torres’ actions escalated quickly, despite other passengers asking him to calm down, according to Olsen.
“A woman tried to approach him and say you know, he was scaring the passengers, he didn’t care, he was getting louder,” she explained.
An examination of the door that Torres allegedly tampered with revealed that the 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 attendant who was attacked is said to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Torres is slated to appear in court on Thursday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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