A man has pleaded guilty to an incident on a plane in 2023 where he tried to open the aircraft's emergency exit in mid air and attempted to stab a flight attendant with a broken spoon.
On 13 May, 34-year-old Francisco Severo Torres pleaded guilty to one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and using a dangerous weapon, and the United States Attorney's Office said he tried to stab someone in the neck.
Back on 5 March, 2023, Torres had been a passenger on board a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston, and about 45 minutes before the plane was due to land, the crew got an alert that one of the emergency exit doors had been disarmed.
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When flight attendants arrived on the scene, they found that the door's emergency slide arming lever had been disarmed and the door handle had been turned about a quarter of the way.
A flight attendant said they had seen Torres near the door and suspected him of tampering with it, the passenger was then confronted about tampering with the door and he asked the crew if any cameras had shown him doing that.
Soon afterwards, Torres got out of his seat and tried to head for the emergency exit door he'd been messing with.
Footage taken by another passenger on board the plane showed Torres declaring he was 'taking over this plane' and calling himself 'Balthazar, as renamed by God.'
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He told other passengers to put their hands up and ask not to be killed if they didn't want to be harmed, declaring that he would 'kill every man on this plane', then brandished his broken spoon as he backed down the aisle and moved towards the flight attendants.
A physical altercation then followed with some passengers joining in to help subdue the man, who was taken into police custody once the plane landed in Boston.
Other passengers on the flight said Torres had asked them where on the safety card he could find door handle instructions and that he'd been seen pacing up and down the plane's galley before attacking the flight attendant.
NBC reports that as part of his agreement to plead guilty, Torres will get release for time served, 60 months of supervision upon release, compliance with mental health treatment and be fined.
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The maximum sentence for his charges is life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
Torres has been ordered to be released to his mother, and he must appear before the court again on 17 July to be formally sentenced.
Joe Harker