Society's Child

Disturbing footage: United Airlines have police drag doctor off overbooked flight (Update)

RT
Mon, 10 Apr 2017 15:38 UTC

A United Airlines passenger was pulled out of his seat and dragged along the aisle floor after the airline overbooked a flight from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky.

Sunday's incident was shared online by fellow passengers who said the airline randomly selected customers to give up their seats and get off the plane so its own personnel could make it to work the next day.

Footage from the scene shows a man being forcibly removed from his seat by three police officers and dragged off the flight. The man refused to leave as he was a doctor and needed to be work at a hospital the next morning, according to passengers who uploaded videos.

United Airlines confirmed to WHAS11 that the flight was overbooked and law enforcement was asked to assist after a customer refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily.

"We apologize for the overbook situation. Further details on the removed customer should be directed to authorities," a spokesperson from the airline said in a statement to the Courier-Journal.

Passenger Audra D. Bridges told the Courier-Journal that the airline asked for one volunteer to give up their seat at the gate. However, after boarding, airline staff then asked for four more people to hand over their seats to United employees that needed to be in Louisville on Monday for a flight.

The company reportedly offered $800 compensation and a hotel stay but, after no-one took up the offer, they used a computer to randomly select passengers to remove.

Bridges claimed that the man booted off the flight came back on the plane with a bloody face and received medical assistance on board while fellow passengers were sent back to the gate so officials could "tidy up" before take off. The flight was delayed two hours as a result.

No update was given to passengers about the condition of the man forced from the plane, Bridges said.

Last month United Airlines found itself at the center of a Twitter storm after it stopped two teenage girls from boarding a flight because they were wearing leggings.

This latest incident again sparked outrage among social media users prompting reuse of the hashtag #DontFlyUnited.

Brad Vassar @bradandcoffee4h

Had to be some heavy irony when @United tried to play the safety video after KOing a passenger and dragging him off the plane #DontFlyUnited

Anonymous @USAnonymous4h

So @united is basically saying; "We asked for volunteers and no one said yes, so we called the cops." #6

Carey Copeling @copeling3h

@united @USAnonymous Where is the apology to that passenger? One for overbooking, two for inconveniencing him, and three for assaulting him? #dontflyunited

Jordan Hamilton @Jchamilt5h

I've flown Asia to US back and forth multiple times via @united after seeing them drag a doctor off a plane, never again. #dontflyunited

Emil K @EmilKirakosyan5h

@Tyler_Bridges @united @FoxNews @CNN "Welcome aboard of United Airlines. Unless we screw up with overbooking, then we'll just drag you out like an animal." #DontFlyUnited

Katherine Herleman @KatHerleman6h

I will never fly #UnitedAirlines again in my entire lifetime. .@united should be held accountable for inhumane treatment of this passenger.

7h Chuck @striders

#UnitedAirlines sent security to violently drag a doctor from flight because United is overbooked. @united @ACLU ...

Comment: United CEO responds:

Following the dragging of a doctor from a plane - after he refused to leave when a computer selected him for removal when the airline overbooked the flight - United CEO Oscar Munoz has (finally) responded...
This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers.

Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened.

We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this further address and resolve this situation.

Update: United CEO issues apology to passenger dragged off flight

The CEO of United Continental has apologized for the airline's handling of a passenger who was forcibly removed from a flight in Chicago. The incident caused media outrage and the airline to lose millions of dollars, as its stock tumbled.

"I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard," United Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. "No one should ever be mistreated this way."

"I want you to know that we take full responsibility and we will work to make it right," Munoz said, promising a review or airline's policies on crew movement, volunteer incentives, oversold flights and interactions with law enforcement, to be concluded by the end of April.

"It's never too late to do the right thing. I have committed to our customers and our employees that we are going to fix what's broken so this never happens again," Munoz said.

Update: The Chicago Tribune reports Dr. Dao has hired an attorney:

Meanwhile, David Dao, the passenger at the center of the growing imbroglio, retained a high-powered Chicago personal injury lawyer, Thomas Demetrio.

Dao was in a Chicago hospital undergoing treatment for his injuries Tuesday, according to a statement from Demetrio, who is helping represent Dao and his family.

Demetrio's practice centers on medical negligence, product liability, airplane crash and commercial litigation on behalf of plaintiffs and he has negotiated more than $1 billion in settlements, according to the firm's website.

Update: A newly released video has emerged showing the heated exchange between David Dao and police before he was removed from the plane. Dao's lawyers have filed an emergency request at the Illinois State Court to instruct United to preserve all evidence pertaining to the incident, including video recordings, cockpit voice recordings and passenger lists as they begin the legal process.

Update: Dao's lawyer, Tim Demetrio, spoke at a news conference in Chicago Thursday regarding his client's condition and their legal intentions:

David Dao, the passenger who was brutally removed from a United Airlines flight, suffered a "significant" concussion, a "serious" broken nose and lost two front teeth in the ordeal, according to his lawyer.

Demetrio, who described the police in the incident as "storm troopers", said Dao was discharged from hospital Wednesday after spending three days recovering from the incident. He said Dao will need reconstructive surgery to repair what he says is a badly broken nose.

Demetrio declined to comment on the monetary amount he will be seeking on behalf of his client but, following an investigation, said they will come to a "fair and adequate compensation".

Reader Comments

agni · 2017-04-10T16:47:01Z

That's the airline policy you need to follow. Stop bleating sheep ! Trying to rob airline of the profits... obey. smh..

OhSoCuriouSo · 2017-04-10T18:21:25Z

The man was approved for boarding, which means he purchased a ticket and agreed to all those things nobody reads when purchasing airline tickets. Read the typical ticket agreement and you'll realize his refusal to leave the plane when requested to do so, irrespective his feelings about it, was an act of HIM breaching contract, not the Airline; thus, the Airlines right for recourse, however barbaric. While legally ethical, is it moral? The man is ignorant of what he is signing or assenting to in that agreement, via direct signature or applied PIN in transfer of credited funds or debited cash, et cetera. What's more ugly? The brutality of the public officers enforcing contracts, as if that's their job, in noted manner and without concern for BOTH parties to that contract, or this guy living in a system allowing for such ignorance of what constitutes breach (and while surrounded by equally ill-informed members of a de facto plebian-caste who have no more understanding than him, a supposedly "educated Doctor," of the rights all so easily and capriciously relent to non-corporeal, yet magically incorporated, entities in the course of simple travel)? What's repugnant is the ignorance required for the "smooth" operation of the system, and those who blindly act within it, both the gestapo, the offended man, and average airline employee. This wasn't a violation of his rights, but certainly a violation of his conscience as it would lead himself to unwittingly relent his own rights. Likewise others so involved.

Potatoes and Tomatoes · 2017-04-11T22:36:45Z

OhSoCuriouSo Ow, that hurts, but you are absolutely right...how terrifying...

Eventide · 2017-04-10T20:50:19Z

This kind of crap has been going on a long time. The demon that has infested the airline industry is quite powerful and literally makes it impossible for people associated with it to keep their heads on straight. My family had a taste of it at Delta in the summer of 2001, a few months before 9/11. Our whole 6-person family was traveling from AZ to OR for my parent's 50th on tickets that were discounted as a benefit for a retired employee. My husband was harassed by a self-important ass of an airline official to the point of nearly missing the flight because he had painter's loops on the sides of his new, clean jeans, and was wearing Birkenstock sandals (with socks). Horrors! He was told his clothing "didn't adequately represent the airline" and he was forced to change them before we were allowed to board. Never have flown Delta since. Now I can add United. And people think the Nazi's were a one-off phenomenon!

Servaline · 2017-04-10T23:43:06Z

Boycott. American's need to learn to read the fine print and also to boycott! When nobody is buying their tickets anymore, their policy with change with amazing speed.

Hofbrau · 2017-04-11T21:04:20Z

I hope this sets a precedent for other airlines and united when they need to 'evict' a customer. Offer up more then $800, maybe a few thousand, and you'd have a lottery on your hands with people giving up their seats. Sounds way cheaper and makes it more of an incentive to give up your seat. Aaaand it won't cost you a huge embarrassment and millions lol

jeffkiss · 2017-04-11T21:21:40Z

Interesting that this event is huge news in China.

Apparently their people are outraged.

[Link]
Geez, and I thought they lived in an awful dictatorship there.

Hmmm?

Also suspicious is how thoroughly its being covered in MSM.

Means they want us to see this.

What are they normalizing?

Divide By Zero · 2017-04-11T23:00:24Z

Overbooking is such horse crap. Even if you decide to change or cancel your flight, they charge fees or you get no refund.

So how is overbooking a legitimate practice, what jerk off law maker allows this?

griffin · 2017-04-12T11:03:41Z

Divide By Zero Actually, true overbooking wasn't the real problem in this instance. Instead, the airline wanted to displace four passengers to make room for four of its own employees needed to staff a flight from the destination the next morning.

mediumfoot · 2017-04-13T17:30:05Z

Fliers should demand up front a written guarantee for a specific $$ cash settlement fee if they are bumped. A first class seat could cost a bit extra for a guaranteed $10,000 refund, or a bit more up front for an even larger refund. All passengers should demand a written LARGE refund guarantee before buying another ticket.

Insurance companies should step up.

earthling · 2017-04-13T17:45:54Z

Since the U.S. lost TWA and Pan Am, U.S. airline travelling has been going down the drain. Currently at least if you 're flying outside the U.S. choose Qatar (second best in the world IMO) or if you can afford it Emirates (number one, again IMO). However Emirates charge too much. So, at least for international flights Qatar Business is as good as it gets.

Jean Michel · 2017-04-13T17:52:00Z

Simple fix for this: Airlines need to stop overbooking, period.

Yes I know this wasn't a true overbooking but it is still a problem with all major airlines.

earthling · 2017-04-13T20:33:53Z

Jean Michel This is how they think : We 'll have let's say 10% in cancelations. So, in order to balance that let's overbook 10%. No money

loss. Managerial idiocy at it's best...YOU CAN NEVER PREDICT ANYTHING...Much less how many cancellations you 'll ever have...Supposedly some of the best managers in the U.S. should be running these corporations...Excellent work...Management was my major in College and yes I can accept that corporate management is the ultimate lunacy but if you are not up to it dude better resign than get fired...Oh, it's gonna be pretty nice looking for a job due to a silly mistake like that , that cost your corporation a billion in stock...CEO's have been fired in the past for much lesser reasons...Have fun in the company of the Easter bunny...NO MISTAKE GOES UNPUNISHED.

stranger · 2017-04-13T19:44:33Z

"The company reportedly offered $800 compensation and a hotel stay "

So offer $1000, and if there are no takers offer $1500 etc. until someone takes them up on it.

Sooner or later someone will, and they know that, but were just too cheap, so they decided to use their already-paid-for, police-thugs-for-hire instead.

They have no right to assault people to save money.

That's all they were doing, saving money.

They saved $1000 by assaulting this poor guy, then lost a billion in their stock price.

Good move, management, how's that working out for you?

earthling ·

stranger

· 2017-04-13T20:08:50Z

Yupo · 2017-04-13T22:22:09Z

Louisville isn't even that far away. It is well under a 5 hour drive. A chauffeured auto would have gotten the crew there in plenty of time.

baron · 2017-04-14T01:44:20Z

Yupo Please, logical thinking is a form of questioning....you are being watched...LOL!

Yea, well how about chartering a private plane? For Christ Sakes? I thought this was an airline, wouldn't you think that someone would know some private pilots, some other charter companies? Yet they would rather have this for publicity?

Compete insanity.

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Revolucionar · 2017-04-14T10:45:15Z

Why didn't anyone get up and try to stop this madness? People just sitting there trying to look outraged. A few cops vs. a hundred passengers

Alan Reid · 2017-04-14T12:16:51Z

I sure noticed the targeting of a minority person, "Lots of white folk sitting all around, But lets kick out the Asian dude back there, he will not put up too much of a fight"

Can't wait to see that happen... "People are determined to be respected." ... speaking of which, less food would do wonders though!!

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Disturbing footage: United Airlines have police drag doctor off overbooked flight (Update)

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