Passenger's dragging from plane sparks uproar

The CEO of United Airlines apologized to customers on Monday after videos on social media showed an Asian passenger being dragged kicking, screaming and bleeding from his face through the aisle of an overbooked United flight at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport after refusing to give up his seat.

"This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers," said United CEO Oscar Munoz in a statement. "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."

Chicago's Aviation Department said one of its officers involved in dragging the man off the flight did not follow standard operating procedures and has been placed on leave.

The videos on social media show a man with his glasses nearly falling off his face being dragged off by officers. It appears the man is of Asian descent. The Associated Press was unable to confirm the passenger's identity or ethnicity, according to ABC.

A witness told NBC News the incident began after the airline said the Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky, flight was overbooked and asked four customers to give up their seats voluntarily for compensation and take a flight the following day.

Four crew members needed to get on the flight to work another one in Louisville or else that flight would be canceled, an airline spokeswoman said.

When no one volunteered, the airline was forced into an "involuntary de-boarding situation", airline spokesman Charlie Hobart said.

United used a system that weighs a number of factors to determine which passengers would leave the flight. "The system in place enables us to take a look at how long a customer will need to stay at an airport, for example," Hobart said.

United Chinese Americans, an umbrella organization for Chinese groups in the US, said in a statement on Monday that it was "immensely disturbed by the violent and wrong action taken yesterday to remove a 69-year old Chinese American doctor from the plane by police from Chicago Department of Aviation and United Airlines at O'Hare International Airport".

"We demand an immediate and thorough investigation by United Airlines as well as by FAA regarding this horrible incident as well as about the booking and other industry practices adopted by the airlines in general," the statement said. "The deep rooted culture and ongoing practice of resorting to violence prematurely and unnecessarily, sometimes even fatally, by police must be examined, stopped and changed."

Tyler Bridges, who posted video of the incident on Twitter, told NBC that first a young couple was asked to leave and, "they're not happy, but they get off. No problem," Bridges said.

Then the unidentified man in the video was asked to leave, Bridges said.

"He says he's a doctor and has to be in Louisville in the morning to see patients," he said. "He says he can't be delayed a day."

Writing on Twitter, passenger Jayse D. Anspach said "no one volunteered (to leave), so @United decided to choose for us. They chose an Asian doctor and his wife," according to Reuters.

Hobart said United employees explained the situation to the man several times, but he still refused to leave the plane. When he refused, they followed Department of Transportation protocol and called local law enforcement to forcibly remove him from the plane.

The Chicago Police Department said in a statement on Monday that around 6 pm on Sunday, a 69-year-old passenger "became irate" after he was asked to leave the plane.

"The passenger in question began yelling to voice his displeasure at which point Aviation Police were summoned," police said in the statement.

Police claimed the officers were attempting to carry the man off the flight "when he fell".

"His head subsequently struck an armrest causing injuries to his face," police said.

paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com