United Airlines Under Fire After 'Older Doctor' Is Violently Dragged From Overbooked Flight
"Oh my God! Oh my God!" at least one female passenger screamed in disbelief as she witnessed the forceful removal of a passenger. "No this is wrong."
United Airlines is now facing a public relations nightmare after several videos posted online show a passenger, identified as an older adult doctor, being violently dragged from one of their flights at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, Sunday.
"Please share this video. We are on this flight. United airlines overbooked the flight. They randomly selected people to kick off so their standby crew could have a seat. This man is a doctor and has to be at the hospital in the morning. He did not want to get off. We are all shaky and so disgusted. #unitedairways," Audra D. Bridges noted in a video of the incident posted to Facebook Sunday evening.
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Bridges, a resident of Louisville, where the flight was destined, told the Courier-Journal that passengers were told at the gate that the flight was overbooked and United was offering $400 and a hotel stay to volunteers to take another flight to Louisville at 3 p.m. Monday.
Once the passengers were allowed to board the flight and they were seated, Bridges explained that they were told four people needed to give up their seats to stand-by United employees that needed to be in Louisville on Monday for a flight.
They were also told the flight would not take off until the United crew had seats. The cash offer to volunteers was increased to $800 but no one volunteered, Bridges said. It was at this point, she noted, that a manager from the airline told passengers that four people would be selected randomly to be removed from the flight.
One couple was selected first and they left the plane, according to Bridges. The older adult doctor was then selected for removal and be became "very upset," explaining he was a doctor scheduled to see patients in the morning.
The manager warned him that if he didn't leave willingly she would have security remove him and that's when he said he would call his lawyer.
After two security officers were called to get the passenger to leave, a third came in and the passenger was thrown against an armrest and dragged off the plane.
"A couple airport security men forcefully pulled the doctor out of his chair and to the floor of the aisle. In so doing, the doctor's face was slammed against an arm rest, causing serious bleeding from his mouth. It looked like he was knocked out, because he went limp and quiet and they dragged him out of the plane like a rag doll," explained Jayse D. Anspach, a Christian husband and seminary student, in a series of tweets.
Bridges told the Journal that the man was eventually able to get back on the plane but his face was bloody and he seemed disoriented. He ran to the back of the plane and passengers were asked to get off as a medical crew was called in.
Passengers had to get off the plane so officials could "tidy up" before the flight was allowed to take off after a two-hour delay.
"Everyone was shocked and appalled," Bridges said. "There were several children on the flight as well that were very upset."
When asked about the incident by BuzzFeed News, United Airlines said in a statement: "Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked. After our team looked for volunteers, one customer refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily and law enforcement was asked to come to the gate. We apologize for the overbook situation. Further details on the removed customer should be directed to authorities."
The airline refused to say whether or not having passengers forcibly removed on overbooked flights was standard procedure. They directed all further questions to Chicago Police. Chicago Police told BuzzFeed News to contact the Chicago Department of Aviation. Chicago Department of Aviation directed queries to a TSA message bank. TSA redirected questions on the incident to Chicago Police.
The video of the doctor being forcibly removed has now gone viral on social media. Members of the public have also been expressing their outrage over how the passenger was treated by United.
"It is appalling to see how you treat your passengers when you, the airline, overbook a flight. I will walk to my destination before I fly United again," wrote Martha Lauster to the company.
"I would not want to be @united Airlines right now," tweeted former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.
