This week, a Massachusetts man received a sentence after being filmed attacking a United Airlines flight attendant during a 2023 flight from Los Angeles to Boston.
Francisco Severo Torres, who admitted to one count of interference and attempted interference with the flight crew using a dangerous weapon, was sentenced to “time served (about 26 months in prison),” as stated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. After his sentencing, the 35-year-old Leominster resident faces five years of supervised release during which he is “banned from flying on a commercial aircraft,” it was noted.
A video from March 5, 2023, went viral depicting Torres shouting while standing over his seat, then rushing into the aisle to assault a stewardess with a broken metal spoon. Federal agents reported that Torres struck the flight attendant in the neck area three times.
“I heard the person getting louder and louder, and initially thought it was just a dispute, but he began yelling, screaming, and threatening people, saying he would kill them,” stated Simik Ghookasian, a government contractor from Los Angeles traveling to Boston on United Flight 2609, following Torres’s arrest.
Torres was taken into custody on March 5, 2023, after the plane landed in Boston, Mass. (Lisa Olsen)
“When checked, a flight attendant discovered that the door’s locking handle was moved slightly from the fully locked position – around a quarter towards unlocked – and the emergency slide arming lever was shifted to the ‘disarmed’ position,” it continued. “The flight attendant informed the captain and crew after securing the door and emergency slide.”
In subsequent conversations, “one fellow flight attendant reported seeing Torres near the door and believed Torres had tampered with it,” according to the Attorney’s Office.
“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. 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,” it added.
The incident onboard United Flight 2609 was captured on video. Torres later plead guilty to one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon. (Lisa Olsen)
“Shortly thereafter, Torres got out of his seat and approached the starboard side door where two flight attendants were standing in the aisle,” according to the attorney’s office. “Video taken by a passenger depicts Torres yelling at points that he would ‘kill every man on this plane’ and ‘I’m taking over this plane.’ 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. Passengers then tackled and restrained Torres with the assistance of flight crew. Torres was immediately taken into custody upon the flight’s arrival to Boston. ”
