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NPR reports
Passengers on a United Express flight from Chicago to Louisville, Ky., were horrified when a man was forcibly removed--violently wrenched from his seat and physically dragged down the aisle. [...] Videos of the scene have prompted calls to boycott United Airlines.
[...] The Chicago Department of Aviation [...] says the actions of the security officers were "not condoned by the Department" and that one individual has been placed on leave pending a review.
[...] Passengers had already boarded on Sunday evening [April 10] at O'Hare International Airport when United asked for volunteers to take another flight the next day to make room for four United staff members who needed seats.
The airline offered $400 and a free hotel, passenger Audra D. Bridges told the Louisville Courier-Journal. When no one volunteered, the offer was doubled to $800. When there were still no bites, the airline selected four passengers to leave the flight--including the man in the video and his wife.
"They told him he had been selected randomly to be taken off the flight", Bridges said.
[...] The man said he was a doctor and that he "needed to work at the hospital the next day", passenger Jayse D. Anspach said.
[...] Both Bridges and Anspach posted videos of three security officers, who appear to be wearing the uniforms of Chicago aviation police, wrenching the man out of his seat, prompting wails. His face appeared to strike an armrest. Then they dragged his limp body down the aisle.
Footage shows the man was bleeding from the mouth as they dragged him away. His glasses were askew and his shirt was riding up over his belly.
"It looked like he was knocked out, because he went limp and quiet and they dragged him out of the plane like a rag doll", Anspach wrote.
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(Score: 3, Informative) by bradley13 on Wednesday April 12 2017, @05:55PM (4 children)
IANAL, but I have by now read a couple of article by lawyers. It's not the wild west, with airline captains shooting passengers at will. It's a heavily regulated industry, and the regulations are pretty clear. As I understand the situation, they do have the right to remove passengers, but for a specific list of reasons: disruptive behavior, etc.. The passenger in this case did not meet any of the listed criteria.
They also have the right to prevent passengers from boarding the plane. This is the point in time where denial of service due to overbooking is allowed. Overbooking is not one of the reasons listed for removing passengers already on the plane.
United has totally screwed the pooch on this one.
As for the police who removed the passenger: They should have known that they had no right to remove the passenger. Failing that - the passenger is 67 years old, not particularly big, and was not being physically violent - the tactics they used were utterly inappropriate.
They and especially their supervisors ought to all be hung out to dry. Won't happen, and that is the biggest problem of all.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Wednesday April 12 2017, @07:00PM (3 children)
IANAL, but I have by now read a couple of article by lawyers. It's not the wild west, with airline captains shooting passengers at will. It's a heavily regulated industry, and the regulations are pretty clear. As I understand the situation, they do have the right to remove passengers, but for a specific list of reasons: disruptive behavior, etc.. The passenger in this case did not meet any of the listed criteria.
That's true. However, if you read the appeals court decision I linked to, you'll see that the court determined that any inappropriate use of discretion was specifically on the plane's captain and the airline was not responsible. This was the main line of reasoning for reversing the jury verdict in Cerqueira v. American Airlines [findlaw.com].
They and especially their supervisors ought to all be hung out to dry. Won't happen, and that is the biggest problem of all.
This is nothing new (as my anecdote and many others can attest to), and won't change.
IANAL either, but regardless of what you may have read, plane (and ship) captains have broad discretion and authority backed up with a pretty expansive interpretation of qualified immunity.
This incident, especially the police violence, points up just how much contempt the powers-that-be have for us. As you pointed out, things are unlikely to change anytime soon. As I said before, more's the pity.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Wednesday April 12 2017, @08:16PM (1 child)
In that case, the man was acting suspicious.
I don't think that is the case in this more recent incident.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Wednesday April 12 2017, @10:08PM
In that case, the man was acting suspicious.
I don't think that is the case in this more recent incident.
In that case, the man complied with all orders from the flight crew.
The doctor repeatedly refused to disembark after being ordered to do so.
Which set of actions are Federal crimes?
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 12 2017, @08:54PM
The FAA has strict rules for the pilot in command (PIC).
But it's not clear that the pilot was in command.
Usually, the gate agent is in charge of the plane until they close the doors and/or push back.
There was once an official transfer of control with a salute.