BOSTON — On a weekend flight from Los Angeles to Boston, a passenger who assisted in restraining a threatening man said on Tuesday that the entire chaotic incident was resolved quickly thanks to teamwork.

Prosecutors claim that the man tried to stab a flight attendant with a broken metal spoon while trying to quietly open the emergency door of an airplane while Simik Ghookasian was seated several rows behind him.

Ghookasian, a government contractor from Los Angeles traveling to Boston on United Flight 2609 on Sunday for work, said, "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.

He hadn't noticed anything odd about the man, Francisco Severo Torres, according to federal authorities, until the yelling.

Ghookasian claimed to have seen the spoon and was one of the five or six people who piled onto Torres to take it away from him. According to authorities, it was the handle of a metal spoon from which the bowl had been broken off.

Ghookasian remarked, "That guy was really strong and was really resisting. We struggled to keep him down. There was complete teamwork.

A flight attendant produced some zip ties in response to Ghookasian's request for duct tape or zip ties.

Ghookasian, who claimed to be trained in both first aid and counterterrorism, said he didn't have time to be afraid and instead just reacted naturally.

He claimed that everything "just exploded" in a matter of seconds.

Federal prosecutors said Torres, 33, of Leominster, Massachusetts, was detained when the aircraft touched down in Boston and charged with interfering with flight crew members and attendants and attempting to do so with a dangerous weapon. He was held in custody until a hearing that was scheduled for Thursday.

According to court records, the crew learned that a side door on the aircraft had been deactivated when the plane was about 45 minutes from Boston. The locking handle on the door had been moved, as one flight attendant observed. Torres was seen near the door, and a different flight attendant thought he had moved the handle.

Due to cabin pressure, airplane doors cannot be opened while in flight.

Authorities claim that the crew informed the captain that he posed a threat and that the plane needed to land right away.

Then, as per the court documents, Torres approached two flight attendants. The metal object in Torres' hand struck the flight attendant three times on his tie and shirt collar.

Prosecutors claimed in the documents that Torres admitted to breaking a spoon in half and using it as a weapon after entering the airplane's bathroom. He allegedly informed authorities that he wanted to unlock the door so he could jump out of the aircraft.

According to the investigators, Torres acknowledged knowing that many people would perish if he opened the door.

Investigators learned from Torres that when the flight attendants confronted him, he stabbed one of them in an effort to defend himself. They claimed that he thought the flight attendant was attempting to murder him.

Authorities did not disclose where Torres obtained the spoon, but TSA regulations allow passengers to bring metal utensils onto aircraft with the exception of knives.

According to United Airlines, nobody was hurt.

In response to a security concern on United Flight 2609 from Los Angeles to Boston, one passenger was restrained "thanks to the quick action of our crew and customers," the airline said in a statement. "Law enforcement officials met the aircraft safely at the airport."

Torres could be sentenced to life in prison if found guilty of the accusations leveled against him.

His federal public defender received an email requesting comment from him, and a voicemail was also left.

According to federal court records, Torres has previously sued two mental health facilities where he received treatment. In March 2021, he filed a lawsuit against the government-run Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital, claiming medical malpractice for a false diagnosis. A few months later, that lawsuit was dismissed.

In May of last year, he also filed a lawsuit against Fuller Hospital in Attleboro, Massachusetts, claiming that his constitutional rights had been violated because he was a vegan and had been denied almond milk. In June, the lawsuit was abandoned.

He served as his own attorney in both situations.

-AP