United Airlines violently drag passenger from his seat due to overbooking, lose $1bn in shares

A man was violently removed from a United Airlines flight by aviation police officials at Chicago’s O’Hare international airport on Sunday, in an incident captured on video by several other passengers.

In one clip, posted by passenger Audra Bridges to Facebook, guards can be seen aggressively grabbing, and then dragging, the passenger down the aisle of the plane, which was bound for Louisville, Kentucky. Other passengers can be heard screaming and shouting “Oh my God” and “Look at what you did to him.”

The airline said in a statement that the United flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked, and that no passengers agreed to voluntarily give up their seats. United said airline representatives chose four passengers to leave the plane at random based on ticket class, frequent flier status and check-in time, and that one man selected refused to leave his seat.

Officials then requested the assistance of law enforcement, who forcibly removed the man. Bridges said the seats were being cleared for airline employees on standby who were needed by the airline for shifts in Louisville.

The man has been identified as David Dao, a medical doctor from Elizabethtown, Kentucky. A passenger who sat next to him told BBC Radio 5 Live that Mr Dao said he was originally from Vietnam. He said he and his wife were both doctors. Three passengers – reportedly including Mr Dao’s wife – agreed and left the plane. But the man said he worked in a hospital, and needed to see his patients the next day, an eyewitness said.

In an email to employees, CEO of United Airliens Oscar Munoz said the passenger had been “disruptive and belligerent” and refused to voluntarily leave the plane. Employees were “left with no choice but to call Chicago Aviation Security Officers to assist in removing the customer from the flight”, he added. He told staff in the private email that he was “upset to see and hear about what happened” but defended United. “Our employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this,” the Associated Press quoted the email as saying.

Stocks in United Continental Holdings dropped by more than 4% at one point on Tuesday, and at one point nearly $1bn (£800m) was wiped off its value. The company faces a massive wave of criticism in all media and social networks.

We seriously hope the guy sues United Airlines and gets a massive compensation for this inhumane act.