United Airlines is under fire after footage emerged on social media Monday showing officials forcibly removing a man from an airplane bound for Louisville, Kentucky, by violently picking him up and dragging him down the aisle. The incident, which occurred at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, reportedly followed the airline’s routine attempt to solicit “volunteers” willing to give up their seats on an overbooked flight.
@United overbook #flight3411 and decided to force random passengers off the plane. Here’s how they did it: pic.twitter.com/QfefM8X2cW
— Jayse D. Anspach (@JayseDavid) April 10, 2017
It’s unclear at this time who the officials worked for and whether they were employees of the airline or TSA.
Another passenger, Audra D. Bridges, shared a video of the hostile confrontation with the additional information that the passenger who was dragged down the aisle was a doctor who needed to get to a hospital in Louisville:
United Airlines confirmed the incident to NBC Charlotte with the following 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.
