The fiasco became a huge public relations headache for United. In the videos, officers are seen aggressively grabbing a passenger — Dr. David Dao — who was reportedly selected at random to be removed from the overbooked flight so that his seat could be given to a United crew member.
In a quarterly report, Chicago's Office of the Inspector General found that a Chicago Department of Aviation security officer "improperly escalated the incident" and that a sergeant "made misleading statements" and "deliberately removed material facts" from employee reports on the April 9 incident aboard United Express Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky. The first officer and the sergeant were fired, and another two officers involved in the incident were suspended — one of whom subsequently resigned, the report said.
The security officers "mishandled a non-threatening situation," which led to the "violent" removal of the 69-year-old Dao, the inspector general's report said. "The use of excessive force caused the passenger to hit his face on an armrest, resulting in a concussion, a broken nose and the loss of two teeth," a news release accompanying the report stated.
About the Author