A United passenger is dragged off the plane.
by Sumahid Chowdhury
On what could have been a normal procedure, one of the planes of United Airlines overbooked their seats, denying some passengers their flight. Auctions for giving up the seats were first set at four-hundred dollars, then eight-hundred, until United decided that a computer would randomly select individuals who would then be escorted off the plane.
Three passengers left without incident, but one man, Dr. David Dao, refused to give up his seat, telling the staff that he had patients to look after. What resulted was a violent incapacitation of Dr. Dao as the three security guards responsible for escorting him physically harmed him and dragged him through the aisle—with a bloody mouth visibly seen in several videos—all to the horror and shock of the passengers who were watching and recording it all unfold.
Junior Becca Leskovec is disgusted with the event. She said, “United Airlines should have handled the situation much better, especially for a company of their size and reputation.”
Recent news about Dr. Dao’s past has surfaced with the Vietnamese man having been charged with theft and exchanging sexual favors for a lower price on medicines, leading some to believe he had deserved it. Others still put forth the issue that those guards had not known, and that what they did, regardless of Dr. Dao’s past, was unacceptable. News of this mishandling has spread quickly, and United Airlines now faces a new series of crisis.