Man sentenced to time served for trying to open plane door, stab attendant in neck

He was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2023.

A Massachusetts man was sentenced to time served after more than two years in prison for attempting to open a United Airlines emergency exit door mid-flight before trying to stab a flight attendant in the neck with a broken metal spoon, officials said.

Francisco Severo Torres, 35, pleaded guilty in May to one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon in the 2023 incident.

He was sentenced on Tuesday to time served after spending about 26 months in custody, the Department of Justice said in a press release. His sentence included five years of supervised release, during which he won’t be able to fly on a commercial flight, officials said.

Prosecutors said Torres tried to open a side door of the plane about 45 minutes before landing during a United flight from Los Angeles to Boston on March 5, 2023.

“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 towards the unlocked position -- and that the emergency slide arming lever had been moved to the ‘disarmed’ position,” DOJ officials said. “The flight attendant reported this to the captain and flight crew after securing the door and emergency slide.”

Another flight attendant reported that they had observed Torres “near the door and believed Torres had tampered with the door,” the DOJ said.

“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,” officials continued. “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.”

Torres then got out of his seat and approached a side door where two flight attendants were standing in the aisle.

“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,” the DOJ said.

The flight crew, along with several passengers, tackled and restrained Torres. He was taken into custody upon the flight’s arrival to Boston.

Passengers reported that Torres had “asked a fellow passenger where on the safety card it showed where the door handle was located prior to takeoff and that Torres was seen pacing in a galley before attacking the flight attendant.”

He was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2023.