Video captured a passenger who apparently threatened to kill “every man on that plane”, before attacking a flight attendant using a broken metal spoon.
Francisco Severo Torres (33), was captured screaming from his seat on a United Airlines flight between Los Angeles and Boston.
He can be heard shouting, “I’m taking control of this plane!”
Then, he stands up and walks towards the crew members. He appears to lunge at an attendant.
The footage shows that several passengers leapt out of their seats in order to restrain him.
Lisa Olsen, who filmed this mid-air drama, said that Torres appeared “visibly upset” at the news and threatened a “bloodbath”.
She thanked fellow passengers who intervened and held Torres with zip ties until the plane landed.
She said, “So many, so many men on that airplane just got up, and, you know… went right after him.”
After door was tampered with during-flight , Confrontation began
Torres tried to open an emergency exit during the weekend flight according to the US Attorney’s Office of the District of Massachusetts.
Crew members reported that they were alerted about the “starboard sidedoor” being opened around 45 minutes into their flight.
The handle of the door was unlocked when a flight attendant looked at it.
The attendant secured the handle and informed the rest of the crew.
Federal officials stated that Torres was seen at the door by the crew and that Torres responded by asking if there are cameras that show that he did so.
The prosecutor’s office stated that Torres approached the same door again and allegedly thrust himself at the flight attendants in a “stabbing motion using a broken metal spoon” attack.
The flight attendant was also hit three times in the neck.
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According to a criminal complaint, Torres later said that he believed the flight attendant was trying kill him.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, he was charged with one count of interference or attempted interference with flight crew members and their attendants using dangerous weapons.
It is not clear if Torres (who is from Leominster, Massachusetts) has a lawyer.
On Thursday, he is due to appear before a federal court.
United Airlines issued a statement saying it had “zero tolerance” for violence on its flights and that Torres was banned from flying until the results of an investigation.
