An Elizabethtown doctor was forcibly removed from an overbooked United Airlines flight from Chicago to Louisville Sunday.
Area pulmonologist, 69 year-old David A. Dao was injured as three aviation officers pulled him down the aisle and off the plane by his arms at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
A video of the event went viral on social media Monday.
He is being treated for his injuries in a Chicago hospital, according to a statement released late Tuesday afternoon by the director of communications for a Chicago law firm. It said he would be making no comments until released from the hospital.
Dao and his wife, Teresa, practice internal and pediatric medicine at the Heartland Medical Clinic on Woodland Drive in Elizabethtown.
According to United CEO Oscar Munoz, the flight was overbooked and volunteers were asked to give up their seats for four United employees who needed to be on the flight. Anyone who did would be compensated $1,000, according to an email Munoz sent to United employees.
When no volunteers offered up their seats, four random passengers, including Dao, were selected to leave the plane.
Dao refused, which resulted in airline officials calling Chicago Aviation Security Officers to help remove him.
In the email, Munoz said Dao became “disruptive and belligerent.”
Video of the incident showed Dao hitting his head on an armrest before being dragged off the plane. Another video showed Dao returning to the plane looking dazed with a bloody face.
The officer, who forcibly removed Dao, has been put on leave pending a thorough review of the situation.
Source: NE
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