A man who attempted to stab a United Airlines flight attendant in the neck with a broken metal spoon after attempting to open one of the emergency exits at 38,000 feet has been banned from flying for the next five years.
Francisco Severo Torres, of Leominster, Massachusetts, was arrested on March 5, 2023, following the terrifying mid-flight incident that made headlines around the world.
Torres has been held in custody and various mental institutions since his arrest, but on Tuesday, he was sentenced to time served and immediately released after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors.
Around four hours into the five-hour United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston, the flight crew became aware of an issue with one of the emergency exits, and flight attendants discovered that the door handle had been forcibly moved upwards.
On closer inspection, they also found that the emergency slide on the door had been disarmed, and suspicion soon grew on Torres, who had been spotted hanging around the door by one of the crew members.
The crew challenged Torres before telling the Captain that they were worried he posed a risk to the safety of the plane.
Not long after, Torres got out of his seat and approached two flight attendants who were standing in the aisle. Torres started to yell and threatened to “kill every man on this plane” before suddenly thrusting a broken metal spoon at the neck of one of the crew members.
Torres managed to strike the flight attendant three times before passengers and other crew members managed to tackle him to the ground.
Upon landing in Boston, Torres was taken into custody, but several months later, a US Judge ruled he was unfit to stand trial and committed to a mental institution.
By December 2023, medical staff concluded that Torres could now stand trial, but court proceedings were further delayed after his legal team successfully argued that he suffered from anosognosia–a condition that prevents him from understanding he suffers from mental illness.
Torres was sent back to the hospital until May 202,5 when he reached a plea deal in which he admitted to interference with a flight crew member with a dangerous weapon.
The court had the power to imprison Torres for life due to his use of a dangerous weapon, but on Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris sentenced him to time served and five years of supervised release.
During this period, Torres has been banned from flying on any commercial aircraft.
There is, however, no central register of unruly passengers who are prohibited from flying, and enforcing the ban could prove difficult.
Banned for five years? Why not banned for life AFTER he gets out of jail?