What happened to the friendly skies?
An ugly scene erupted at O’Hare International Airport after United Airlines forcibly removed a passenger from an overbooked flight to Louisville, Ky., on Sunday, according to a passenger who posted a video of the removal on Facebook.
“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,” the Facebook user, Audra D. Bridges, wrote. “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 report, United told passengers at they gate they needed a passenger to give up his or hear seat. Once passengers boarded the flight, airline crew told passengers they needed four passengers to give up their seat.
One couple gave up their seat before the confrontation.
According to The (Louisville) Courier-Journal:
The man was able to get back on the plane after initially being taken off – his face was bloody and he seemed disoriented, Bridges said, and he ran to the back of the plane. Passengers asked to get off the plane as a medical crew came on to deal with the passenger, she said, and passengers were then told to go back to the gate so that officials could “tidy up” the plane before taking off.
“Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked,” an airline spokesperson told the newspaper. “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.”