Massachusetts man sentenced following violent in-flight rampage on board United Airlines flight
Francisco Severo Torres, who plead guilty to one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon, was sentenced "to time served (approximately 26 months in prison)," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. Following the sentence, the 35-year-old from Leominster has five years of supervised release during which he is "prohibited from flying on a commercial aircraft," it added.
Viral video captured on March 5, 2023, showed Torres shouting while standing above his seat, before taking off into the plane's aisle and attacking a stewardess with a broken metal spoon. Federal investigators said Torres hit the flight attendant on the neck area three times.
"I heard the guy getting louder and louder, and I thought it was just an argument, but he started yelling and screaming and threatening people, threatening to kill them," Simik Ghookasian, a Los Angeles government contractor flying to Boston on United Flight 2609, said following Torres's arrest that year.
Ghookasian added that he was among five or six passengers who piled onto Torres and removed the spoon from his grasp.
"That guy was really strong and was really resisting," Ghookasian said. "We had a hard time holding him down. It was total teamwork."
The Attorney's Office said about 45 minutes before landing, "the flight crew received an alarm in the cockpit that a starboard side door located between the first class and coach sections of the aircraft was disarmed."
"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," it continued. "The flight attendant reported this to the captain and flight crew after securing the door and emergency slide."
In follow-up discussions, "a fellow flight attendant reported that he had observed Torres near the door and believed Torres had tampered with the door," the Attorney's Office 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. 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.
"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. "
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