CHICAGO – Viral video shows a United Airlines passenger being pulled from a window seat and dragged off the flight at Chicago O’Hare Airport on Sunday.
@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
Recommended Videos
According to reports, flight 3411 bound for Louisville, Kentucky, was overbooked and United was asking for volunteers at the gate to take a later flight, offering $400 and a hotel stay.
Once the flight was boarded, United increased the offer to $800, but no one volunteered.
The airlines then announced the flight would not depart until four passengers volunteered for United employees who needed to be in Louisville for a Monday flight, and that a computer would make the selection if no one accepted the offer.
Passenger Audra Bridges told the Louisville Courier-Journal that a couple was selected and left, but when the man in the video was selected, he contested saying he was a doctor who needed to see patients Monday morning.
@united @FoxNews @CNN not a good way to treat a Doctor trying to get to work because they overbooked pic.twitter.com/sj9oHk94Ik
— Tyler Bridges (@Tyler_Bridges) April 9, 2017
That’s when law enforcement was forced to take action and dragged the man from his seat pulling him across the aisle to the front of the plane.
In a statement, United spokesman Charlie Hobart said: “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.”
In a video posted on Twitter by a passenger, the man is heard screaming as law enforcement officials attempt to pull him from the seat with a woman in the background saying, “This is wrong, oh my god! Look what you did to him.”
CLICK: SEVERE STORMS POSSIBLE FOR BEXAR COUNTY LATE MONDAY, TUESDAY
In response to the incident, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz said in a statement: “This is an upsetting event to all of 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,” Munoz said.
“We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation.”
@united @CNN @FoxNews @WHAS11 Man forcibly removed from plane somehow gets back on still bloody from being removed pic.twitter.com/njS3nC0pDl
— Tyler Bridges (@Tyler_Bridges) April 10, 2017
Video posted on Twitter then shows the man back on the plane running down the aisle saying, “I have to go home, I have to go home.”
--------------------------------------------------------
Don't miss a thing. Get email alerts from KSAT12 today.
Get alerted to news events as they happen or sign up for a scheduled news headline email that is delivered right to your inbox. Breaking news, severe weather, daily forecasts, entertainment news, all of the day’s important events to keep you up to date wherever you are.
Sign up today. It's Free.