Topline
A 33-year-old man was arrested Sunday evening at Boston Logan International Airport after authorities said he tried to open an emergency exit door during a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles and attacked a flight attendant with a broken metal spoon, in the latest startling incident involving a Boston flight.
A United Airlines flight prepares to land at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas on January … [+]
Key Facts
Passengers subdued the man—Francisco Severo Torres, of Leominster, Massachusetts—following his attack on a flight attendant, according to the Justice Department.
The DOJ said a flight attendant confronted Torres after the crew received an alarm that a starboard side door between first class and coach had been moved toward the unlocked position about 45 minutes before landing in Boston, while its emergency slide arming level was changed to “disarmed.”
A flight attendant said he saw Torres near the door and believed he tampered with it, while passengers said in interviews following the flight that he asked a fellow passenger where an image of the door handle was on the flight safety card, according to the DOJ.
Torres allegedly fired back after he was confronted, asking if there were cameras proving he tampered with the door, at which point the flight crew determined he was a threat and the aircraft should land as soon as possible, prosecutors said in a statement.
He later got out of his seat and approached flight attendants near the starboard door before lunging at the neck of one of the attendants, hitting the attendant with a broken spoon three times.
Torres was taken into custody after the flight landed, and he is scheduled to make an initial court appearance before a magistrate judge Monday—it’s not immediately clear if Torres has an attorney.
What We Don’t Know
Authorities have not identified a suspected motive.
Key Background
The event came just hours before two United planes clipped each other on the tarmac at Logan Airport. The planes were able to depart “normally” following the brief, low-speed collision, according to United. The incidents also came a week after a Learjet pilot allegedly departed Logan “without clearance” from air traffic control, causing a JetBlue flight to make an abrupt maneuver to avoid a collision. No injuries were reported in any of the incidents.
Contra
The Federal Aviation Administration reported a major uptick in unruly passengers on flights in 2021, opening a record-shattering 1,100 investigations. Problems persisted into 2022, when more than 800 investigations into unruly passengers were opened, but there has been a major decline in unruly passenger reports since the spring of 2022, when most large U.S. airlines ditched mask mandates.
Further Reading
Two Planes Clip At Boston Logan, Following Multiple Close Calls Around The Country (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2023/03/06/passenger-arrested-for-allegedly-trying-to-stab-flight-attendant-and-open-door-on-boston-bound-flight/