A crazed man stabbed a United Airlines flight attendant with a broken metal spoon in the neck on a flight to Boston.
Man Stabbed Flight Attendant In Neck On United Airlines Flight After Failing To Open Emergency Exit Door
Let’s review what happened:
- On March 5, 2023 Francisco Severo Torres, 33, traveled on United Airlines 2069 from Los Angeles (LAX) to Boston (BOS)
- Flight UA2069 was operated by a Boeing 757-200 with 16 seats in business class 160 seats in economy class
- 45 minutes prior to landing, pilots received an alert in the cockpit that a starboard-side exit door (located between rows four and seven) was disarmed
- A disarmed door means that the emergency slide has been deactivated
- Flight attendants found the door’s locking handle had been moved approximately a quarter of the way toward the unlocked position and that the emergency slide arming lever had been moved to the “disarmed” position
- Upon further discussion, flight attendants determined that Torres had been seen near the door and decided to confront him
- Torres responded by asking if there were cameras onboard
- Flight attendants noticed the captain that Torres posed a threat to the aircraft and requested an immediate landing
- Shortly after, Torres arose from his seat and approached two flight attendants in the aisle
- He attacked one with a broken metal spoon
- Passengers and flight attendants tackled Torres, subduing him until he could be arrested upon landing
- Torres has been charged with one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon
Video has emerged of the incident taken by Lisa Olsen, a passenger onboard:
Man tackled by passengers after trying to open the emergency exit door and then attempting to stab a flight attendant with a broken spoon while on a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston. https://t.co/c3YKFFlytw pic.twitter.com/abeTaNJnTO
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) March 7, 2023
Should Passengers Have Spoken Up Earlier?
I think we can all agree this is a horrible and unprovoked incident. Whether the man was intoxicated or suffers from mental health issues or is just a thug does not really concern me here.
What does concern me (or at least invites further discussion) is how Torres acted before the drama above unfolded. For example:
- Torres asked a fellow passenger where on the safety card it showed where the door handle was located during
- He was seen pacing in a galley before attacking the flight attendant
- Torres spoke of raping woman and Nazis
According to the woman who took the video above, Torres also said:
- “Tell them to bring SWAT to shoot me down because they’re gonna have to shoot me down today”
- “Where are they diverting us because wherever it is, it’s gonna be a bloodbath”
- “Where’s Homeland Security with the gun because I’m waiting for them to point the gun at me so that I can show everybody that I won’t die when I take every bullet in that clip to wherever in my body, they shoot it and then I will kill every man on this plane”
While it is generally wise to mind your own business, when does odd behavior rise to the level of calling it out? If someone was talking to you about raping women about Nazis, would you put your headphones on and ignore them or, depending upon the context, alert flight attendants to such unstable or anti-social behavior?
CONCLUSION
A man faces up to life in prison for stabbing a flight attendant and trying to open an emergency exit door on a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston. Torres will be back in court on Thursday, March 9, for a hearing.
Should passengers have spoken up earlier or was it not clear what Torres was trying to do?
image: Lisa Olsen (passenger onboard)
Hope everyone enjoys eating with plastic utensils after this
Plastic straws are an abomination. Plastic utensils may be similar.
If you eat hamburgers or use plastic drinking straws, consider yourself part of the climate change problem. That was the assessment of Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Thursday during an appearance on CNN’s “New Day.”
Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind., told host Alisyn Camerota he thinks many people view climate issues from “the perspective of guilt.”
“You know, from using a straw to eating a burger. Am I part of the problem? In a certain way, yes,” he said. “But the most exciting thing is that we can all be part of the solution.”
“If you look at the moments when this country rose to a major challenge, overcoming the Great Depression, winning World War II, going to the moon, it required something out of all of us. And I think we could be standing taller,” he continued.
“Let’s talk in language that is understood across the heartland about faith,” Buttigieg said. “If you believe that God is watching as poison is being belched into the air of creation, and people are being harmed by it — countries are at risk of vanishing in low-lying areas — what do you suppose God thinks of that? I bet He thinks it’s messed up.”
He added, “At least one way of talking about this is that it’s a kind of sin.”
I’m almost certain this was made with chatGTP
Not the full video clip & rest of his comments are available on Google. I can see why you’d think ChatGPT wrote this, seeing his comments in 2019: “If you believe that God is watching as poison is being belched into the air of creation, and people are being harmed by it” versus 2023..in Ohio.
Well he certainly sounds crazy… see, I don’t defend everything a dem says like Republicans do
Glad to hear we finally agree on something 🙂
Lunatics think it is much simpler to eliminate the plastic straw then educating morons that they should not toss them into the ocean. But as everything Liberals touch, they blame on the plastic straw and not on the morons. Why teach someone good manners if we can just eliminate plastic straws?
United and Lufthansa marketing teams next: Mitigate your plastic straw use with this $39 plastic straw offset fee
Liberals ban plastic straws because it triggers the cons
https://babylonbee.com/news/aoc-proposes-ban-on-straws-after-learning-trump-won-straw-poll
Yep
You’re an idiot!
The guy really looks mentally disturbed. Wondering if he had a metal spoon or plastic one.
Prison for life for this national terrorist would sound so good!
One might wish to quietly get up and move away. Explain to crew why you’re uncomfortable with such behavior and leave it to them.
As a former Federal agent and surge capacity FAM, I’m telling you the second a passenger makes a threat of harm to himself, fellow passengers or risks the safety of the aircraft it’s game on. The men on the aircraft should have taken swift decisive action and gained control of the individual. Your life is in the balance here. No need to wait for flight attendants at that point. I’m so disappointed in the number of men that sat there and did nothing. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Have we learned nothing after 9/11? Remember: speed, surprise and violence of action. Your life, the life of your fellow passengers and possibly the life of those on the ground may depend on it.
True, if only we weren’t in the weak men period of history. https://i.postimg.cc/wjMPpxY3/Screen-Shot-2023-03-07-at-12-54-52-PM.png
I’m chuckling because popular fiction and media portrays so many women as “Mary Sues” who can beat up 4 men around her blindfolded (such as Wednesday Addams) who should be able to handle things on their own.
If we still expect men to live up to the masculine role model, shouldn’t our society begin respecting it more and providing support to young men?
Yes and yes, but the demonization of masculinity has been around for a while now. In 2019, the American Psychological Association said “traditional masculinity … is, on the whole, harmful.”
The USA has significant flaws and one of them is that it both demonizes masculinity while American women have hyper demands of American men for height, education and income. It’s an interesting contrast to, say, Denmark where the men are tall, education is free, and women ask men out and pay their way on dates. I told conservatives that their lack of concern about identity politics and a lack of defense of masculinity is why, and I put “bank” on this, Republicans will not elect another president in my lifetime. This place is largely a shopping mall society comprised of consumers and corporate workers who have individual relationships, but little national identity.
You may be right. I do think if the next president is not Republican, that you are correct–never again in our lifetime. I can see that for various reasons.
@Grumpy1K@ don’t disagree with your points but in a time where people get offended by everything, snowflakes with phones recording and posting everything on the internet, the last thing I want is for me to try to be the hero and be misinterpreted and get in trouble because someone may get offended of think I used too much force or I touched the guy in a way that made others uncomfortable. Thus, until this BS of everything offend everyone is over, nobody feels they should be the ones acting. Imagine if someone saw the guy trying to open the door and jumped on his neck to stop it. Then people will say you were the only one that saw it and maybe you are the one making things up and then you are the one in trouble. I enter a plane mute and leave it mute.
Also true
@Santastoco, it’s not about being a hero. It’s about saving your life. Don’t worry about the court of public opinion. As for the legal ramifications, I don’t know a single US Attorney that would file charges in this situation.
I know there are some naysayers out there and it’s an unpleasant reality but there is no faster way to become a smoking hole in the ground than inaction. At 500kts from 35,000 feet how many seconds do you have to act? If that doesn’t happen, do you not think that the fighter aircraft would hesitate to smoke your plane? Not after 9/11. If you think otherwise you are fooling yourself. You want the captain to advise that the subject is under control not that the situation is ongoing.
@trust77 I surely did not see every man jump up. Just a few started in chase as he moved forward in the aircraft. Looking at the video the flight attendants were not intervening and this situation appeared to be spiraling out of control. The most important thing here is protecting the cockpit. You have to be in charge of your own security.
@Grumpy1k..flight attendants were doing what they were trained to do. Not getting in to it all here. If you’ve been through the training, feel free to comment more on the procedures. Otherwise you’re just giving an opinion that means nothing.
@flyer1. Lol. Read my background. I’m a retired Federal agent with 26 years of experience including time as a FAM , the means Federal Air Marshal in case you didn’t know. Every commercial aircraft I flew on tor those 26 years, including “vacation” I was armed. I can assure you I’m not bloviating.
The subject in question had 3 clear and convincing factors 1) he articulated harm to himself and others 2) he attempted to open an exit endangering the aircraft 3 he was armed with an implement, possibly a sharp one. This easily justifies the force by bystanders.
I will not get into specific details in this forum other than to say I’m extremely familiar with the FA and FAM procedures and have practiced them multiple times in a simulated environment ( fortunately I never had to do it on a real flight) The FA’s were not attempting to defuse the situation directly with the passenger (the principle is called contact and cover) thus warranting action. Yes, they were attempting to protect the cockpit, I’ll give them that one. @Flyer1 fell free to sit strapped in you seat until the moment of impact, which at 35,000 feet and 600mph is approximately 40 seconds. Men like me will step forward to protect you. For everyone else, you are your on security detail. Do the right thing.
From the time the crazy guy goes into the aisle to the time that untrained, unarmed passengers take him down is 15 seconds. What did they teach you in tough guy school was the standard time that us normal guys were supposed to meet in such a situation?
Your comments are truly classic for a dude who boards every flight armed but admits he’s never actually taken anyone down on an airplane. While you’re quick to criticize and point out that there were “three clear and convincing factors”, only one of those factors was likely evident to the average surrounding passenger prior to the point where the produces the weapon. The response time was pretty good after that. We don’t know how much the surrounding passengers knew about the allegations of his tampering with the exit door prior to the confrontation.
Taking him down in the seat while he’s standing there saying a bunch of nasty things looks optimal in retrospect but clearly has its own risks. He’s in an exit row, and has been tampering with exit doors, and there appears to be only one person, presumably untrained, between him and an emergency exit. I’m not sure how much training you received on dealing with a mentally ill individual in crisis when you are unarmed and the subject is not someone you can physically dominate- rule #1 is don’t corner them in. He’s clearly mentally ill, and there’s a good probability that the moment you corner him in that row of seats the situation is likely going to escalate dramatically. Good luck to the cover agent in discharging his duties from such a disadvantaged position.
Even something seemingly simple, like getting the adjacent passenger out of the aisle seat has its own set of pros and cons in that situation. How many times do you think those FAs get to simulate a situation with that kind of intensity? Zero?
I agree there were appears to have been several green lights that this individual was going to do something and I would not have just sat by like that; but there might have been action being taken because there were two flight attendants at the aisle of 2L and 2R, and then another one near the exit seat so did the men around them perceive that the situation was not out of control? Because as soon as it did appear to get out of control, every man jumped up to help.
Unfortunately, it feels like you have to wait for the passenger to make it obvious that they are messed up so there is proof before you do anything. But I always agree, why are there so many people who sit and watch? On the other hand, sometimes it’s just so shocking and you take time to process. But in this situation with the guy standing there yelling I would have been more prepared, as soon as he starts walking toward the front he needs to be stopped. There is plenty of proof at that point. It’s sad that you need proof (when it’s this obvious), but that’s the world we live in.
@Scott: that is my point. The stupid world we live in today requires proof and double proof before you act. And even with proof you may be in trouble because a moron will post online for billions of people that do not have the entire story and context decide to judge your actions. That’s why people don’t act anymore. We became a bunch of pussies because of the way the world is today.
Of course people did nothing. Everyone has to sit on eggshells now out of fear of being labeled a profiler or a racist.
Would you mind to explain how that applies in this particular case?
UA FA’s actually had to do something . wow
Its time FA are permitted to take down dangerous passengers before they attack them. I really hope these FA step up and demand United pursue charges and jail time. If hes ‘ mentally unstable” as some say? Hes dangerous and competent enough to know how to disarm the door and jiggle door arm. Time to stop being gentle and nice to passengers who desire to harm or kill others. Too much BS using Mental Health as an excuse to be a terrorist. Remember the primary role of the FA is aircraft and passenger safety.
The primary role of FA’s is the safety and comfort of passengers and the integrity of the aircraft. FA’s should have the legal right to defend themselves prior to an attack. Asking your seat mate how the exit door handle operates is a red flag. I’d speak to the FA on my way to the lavatory. Waiting for a problem is never a good idea. Mental Health maybe an issue here? But none of us are qualified to make that diagnosis. You don’t need to be suffering Mental Health to be disruptive and threaten passengers and crew. Your basically a bad ass and need taken care of. He knew how to disarm the door and giggle the handle. Society has become way to soft on Mental Health and now its used as an diagnosis to prevent jail time.
Once again, a Hispanic individual decides to unleash havoc on innocent people. How long are we going to put up with the lawlessness perpetrated on us because we have WIDE OPEN BORDERS. I am sick and tired of worrying whether I will be safe on an airplane or any other transportation conveyance. Wake up politicians and start passing legislation protecting American citizens. Enough is enough!
Is this a troll?
You think just because someone has a Latino last name that they are an immigrant? I live in Califonria, where Mexicans were there long before “Americans” were. Hint: we live in a diverse country.
The guy looks like your typical homeless drug addict loitering on every sidewalk of every major US city.
How was he even allowed on the airplane or even past secuirty?
Lost me when you said he was talking about rape. I thought it was Donald Trump bragging about his “forced love”.
Why would he wait until the last 45 mins. of the flight to do something like this?
Agree. There’s more to the story like trying to commit suicide or money for wrongful death in a jet crash.
The broken spoon is a pre-mediated act. FBI needs to dig deep into the background for root cause.
Isn’t it a good thing that he was going to rape Nazi’s?