Passenger tries to open the emergency door during a US flight
A passenger, identified as Francisco Severo Torres, 33, was arrested after trying to open an emergency exit door during a flight from Los Angeles to Boston in the United States this Sunday (5).
According to prosecutors, the passenger also tried to prick a flight attendant with a broken metal spoon in her neck.
The plane was about 45 minutes outside of Boston when the crew received an alert that a side door on the plane was disabled. According to official reports, one flight attendant noticed that the door’s latch handle had been moved and another flight attendant noticed that Torres was near the door. For safety reasons, the emergency door does not open during flight.
Lisa Olsen, the passenger who took the pictures in the video above, said it had clearly been altered.
“He said that he was Balthazar, that his father was Dracula, that he would kill anyone on the plane. That there would be a bloodbath. He asked where national security was,” Olsen said in an interview with ABC.
Other passengers helped restrain the man after the attack, and the flight crew held him until the plane landed in Boston.
He was accused interference and attempted to disrupt flight crew members and flight attendants with a dangerous weaponsaid the federal prosecutor.
Torres told investigators he went into the plane’s lavatory and broke a spoon in half to make a gun. According to prosecutors, he told authorities he wanted to open the door so he could jump off the plane.
According to court records, Torres was a patient in at least two psychiatric facilities. He sued them both, one for alleged medical malpractice and the other for being a vegan and not being given almond milk.
After a first court hearing on Monday, a judge ruled the man held without bail. He is due to be heard again on Thursday. If convicted, Torres could face a penalty of life imprisonment.
According to a United Airlines representative, no one on board the flight was seriously injured.
1 of 2 passengers and crew detain a man who tried to open an airplane’s emergency door on March 5, 2023 in the United States — Photo: Simik Ghookasian/Personal Archive via AP Passengers and crew detain a man who tried to open the Opening an emergency door of an airplane in the US on March 5, 2023 — Photo: Simik Ghookasian/Personal Archive via AP 2 of 2 image shows passenger before attacking a flight attendant in the US on March 5, 2023 — Photo: Lisa Olsen/Reproduction via NBC Image shows passenger before attacking a flight attendant during a flight in the United States on March 5, 2023 Photo: Lisa Olsen/Reproduced via NBC