UPDATES WITH DETAILS
Videos posted on social media show a passenger being forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight Sunday evening at O’Hare International Airport.
One 31-second clip posted on the Facebook page of Audra D. Bridges about 7:30 p.m. Sunday appears to show a man being dragged by his arms from a plane.
“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,” according to the caption of the Facebook video.
“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,” according to the caption.
“Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked,” United spokesman Charlie Hobart said in an email statement.
“After our team looked for volunteers, one customer refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily and law enforcement was asked to come to the gate,” Hobart said.
“We apologize for the overbook situation. Further details on the removed customer should be directed to authorities.”
“This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United,” Oscar Munoz, United Airlines CEO, said in a statement posted on Twitter Monday morning.
“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 situation,” Munoz said.
Another video posted on Twitter by @stephenlaca also shows the man being dragged forcibly down the aisle.
The city’s Department of Aviation police handled the situation, according to Chicago Police. Spokespersons for the Aviation Department and Mayor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday morning.
