"Kill every man on this plane," yelled 33-year-old Francisco Torres. His rants continued, but that was the least concerning of his behaviors. He allegedly tried to open an emergency exit door while the flight was at cruising altitude.
The brave airline passengers who took on a madman are speaking out.
The nightmare for these passengers began five hours into a United flight from Los Angeles to Boston.
"Kill every man on this plane," yelled 33-year-old Francisco Torres.
His rants continued, but that was the least concerning of his behaviors.
He allegedly tried to open an emergency exit door while the flight was at cruising altitude.
Lisa Olson captured video of Torres from her seat, just two rows away.
"He was getting louder, kind of twisting in his seat," Lisa tells Inside Edition. "The guy in back of him was trying to calm him down, ask him his name, ask him questions, but he seemed to be getting more irritated from that."
Then, Torres allegedly grabbed a broken metal spoon and headed for the cockpit.
It was when he lunged at a flight attendant that some of the passengers got out of their seats and took him down.
The group then zip-tied Torres' hands behind his back, using almost 10 ties to make sure he would be fully restrained until they landed in Boston.
Alfred Burgess is a retired Air Marshal, and he give kudos to the passengers who subdued Torres.
"They did what they needed to do and I have to commend them," Burgess tells Inside Edition.
In the end the flight landed safely back in Boston.
It could have been a much different story though if those brave citizens had not stepped up to the plate.
Torres, who a few years ago was ordered by a court to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, was taken into custody.
