Videos posted to Facebook and Twitter show a passenger on United Airlines Flight 3411 being dragged from the plane before takeoff at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
Audra D. Bridges posted one video to Facebook at 7:30 p.m. Sunday that appears to show three officers speaking with the man seconds before grabbing him and pulling his from his seat. The man screams as he is dragged down the aisle of the plane that was scheduled to fly to Louisville, Ky.
The Courier-Journal reported that a United spokesperson confirmed in an email Sunday night that a passenger had been taken off a flight in Chicago.
"Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked," the spokesperson 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. Further details on the removed customer should be directed to authorities."
On Monday, another United spokesman, Charlie Hobart, said airline employees named four customers who had to leave the plane and that three of them did so. He said law enforcement was called when the fourth person refused to get off the plane.
"We followed the right procedures," Hobart told the Associated Press in a phone interview. "That plane had to depart. We wanted to get our customers to their destinations, and when one gentleman refused to get off the aircraft, we had to call the Chicago Police Department."
The guy was an asshole. He was asked to leave and he should have done so. Everything that happened after that was on him. The 4 person flight crew was more important to United than 4 passengers. That makes sense to me, these people typically get $1,000 plus or minus to move their flight time. The guy could rent a car and almost beat the flight home. The flight crew was possibly so tired they would have had to layover and it would cost United much more than the $4,000 cost of removing passengers. I would have gotten off, if someone I was traveling with would have thrown this big of a fuss, I would be both embarrassed and would evaluate the relationship.
Your signature tagline betrays any genuine ideals you hold towards a persons right to free will. This guy chose to stay on the airline. He broke no law. The people who broke the laws are the travel agents who did the overbooking. There needs to be a law submitted to Congress to stop this type of illegal overbooking of flights just to create havoc like this. Those travel agents know the risk involved in empty seats. If this shit continues, expect less of people flying to the point that it will compel such flight companies to shut down business. The future of travel won't be with flights. It will be with international trams.
