Asian Doctor Randomly Assaulted and Removed From United Flight

April 10, 2017

This story has been updated.

An Asian man was forcibly taken off an overbooked United Airlines flight from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky, after refusing to give up his seat to airline employees who needed to be in Louisville on Monday.

Audra Bridges, a United passenger who posted a video of the scuffle on Facebook, told The Courier-Journal that the airline offered $400 and a hotel room and was looking for volunteers to take a flight the following day at 3:00 p.m.

When nobody wanted to give up their seat that they paid for with their hard–earned money, United raised the stakes to $800, telling passengers that the plane would not take off until four airline employees who were on stand-by had seats.

That’s when a manager came aboard the plane and announced that a computer would pick four passengers to be booted off.

One couple was chosen first and left the airplane, according to Bridges, before the man in the video was confronted.

He claimed to be a doctor who had appointments to see patients at a hospital the following morning.

Three security officials were called in to deal with the man after he refused to give up his seat, with one officer reportedly throwing him against the armrest before dragging him out of the plane.

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Bridges said the passenger was bloodied, apparently dazed and ran to the back of the plane.

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Other passengers were then told to go back to the gate so that officials could “tidy up” before the flight, which was delayed for two hours after its scheduled departure to Louisville.

According to Daily Mail, United Airlines said in a statement: “Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked. 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.”

Another passenger, Tyler Bridges, had the following to say of the incident on Twitter: “Not a good way to treat a Doctor trying to get to work because they overbooked. Kids were crying people are disturbed. Also after being removed the bloodied man somehow ran back on the plane repeating-I have to get home.”

BuzzFeed News was given the runaround, being told by United to contact Chicago Police, and then told to call the Chicago Department of Aviation before being transferred to a TSA message bank.

This isn’t the first social media uproar United has been a part of.

In March, three girls wearing leggings were barred from a flight and because they were “pass riders” — friends or relatives of an employee who can travel for free or at a discount on a standby basis — who needed to abide by a dress code, according to NJ.com.

[Update 4-10-17 11:09 a.m. PST] United has issued the following statement on Facebook.

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