A man tampered with a plane and stabbed a flight attendant

A passenger allegedly threatened to kill himself on a plane during a flight from Los Angeles to Boston, and United Airlines contacted the LA Times

Soon after, Torres allegedly got out of his seat, mouthing something, before thrusting “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,” the department said.

Torres told investigators he was trying to defend himself and tried to stab the flight attendant because he believed they were trying to kill him, the complaint states.

During a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston, the flight crew saw an alarm that a door in the plane had been disarmed and, after inspection, a flight attendant saw the door’s locking handle had been pushed out of the fully locked position and an emergency slide arming lever had been disarmed, according to the Justice Department.

In interviews with law enforcement, passengers said they witnessed Torres ask another passenger to point out on the safety card where the handle on the side door was located before the incident, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

“We have zero tolerance for any type of violence on our flights, and this customer will be banned from flying on United pending an investigation. We are cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation,” the statement says.

Unruly passengers continue to be an issue on flights around the country, adding to a host of travel disruptions in recent days ranging from bird strikes, aircraft striking each other on the ground, and episodes of severe turbulence.