United CEO Praises Employees After Passenger Bloodied And Kicked Off Plane

CHICAGO, IL — A Chicago airport security officer who helped drag a United Airlines passenger off a plane by his arms, bloodying his lip as horrified passengers protested and recorded the episode on their smartphones Sunday night at O'Hare International Airport, was placed on leave Monday.

The episode aboard United Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville has become a national embarrassment for the Chicago Department of Aviation and United Airlines. Millions of people now have seen videos of the screaming man as he was forcibly pulled from his seat by three officers, put to the ground and dragged down the aisle. The man, who said he was a doctor, was among four passengers randomly selected on the full flight to give up their seats for United Airlines employees who needed to be in Louisville by Monday, according to witnesses.

As the passenger was pulled down the aisle, one passenger exclaimed, "Can't United rent a car for the (employees) to get to Louisville?" Another passenger pointed out, "You busted his lip" after Chicago airport police grabbed him. Several videos were posted to social media. In one, blood can be seen forming on the man's lip and his eyeglasses are askew.

The petrified, disoriented man, who managed to get back on the plane before being taken to the hospital, ran down the aisle shouting, "I have to go home." As he stood at the back of the plane, he said, "just kill me ... just kill me." Police said the man was taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge for treatment to his injuries.

#flythefriendlyskies @united no words. This poor man!! pic.twitter.com/rn0rbeckwT
— Kaylyn Davis (@kaylyn_davis) April 10, 2017

Monday morning, United CEO Oscar Munoz issued a brief statement calling the incident "an upsetting event."

"I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers," Munoz said. "Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened."

Later in the day, Munoz sent a lengthy letter by email to United employees praising and defending them.

"Our employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this," Munoz said in the email, which was posted to social media. "While I deeply regret this situation arose, I also emphatically stand behind all of you, and I want to commend you for continuing to go above and beyond to ensure we fly right."

Munoz said United's investigation of the episode shows the man was approached "politely" and asked to deplane but he became "disruptive and belligerent" and forced security to act.

The Department of Aviation issued a statement about its officers' actions Monday afternoon — and the city was neither praising nor defending what happened on the plane.

"The incident ... was not in accordance with our standard operating procedure and the actions of the aviation security officer are obviously not condoned by our Department. The officer has been placed on leave effective today and pending a thorough review of the situation."

Jayse D. Anspach, of Louisville, who was seated just a few feet from the man, posted this video to Twitter.

@United overbook #flight3411 and decided to force random passengers off the plane. Here's how they did it: pic.twitter.com/QfefM8X2cW
— Jayse D. Anspach (@JayseDavid) April 10, 2017

Audra D. Bridges, a Louisville resident, posted a video to her Facebook page Sunday night. Bridges told the Louisville Courier-Journal the man said he did not want to give up his seat for a Monday flight because he is a doctor and needed to be in Louisville in the morning to see patients. Bridges said three airport security police surrounded the man, who screamed when they grabbed him and wrenched him out of the seat.

"We are all shaky and so disgusted," Bridges wrote on her Facebook page.

Bridges also told the Courier-Journal the man's face was bloodied and he seemed dazed. She said she saw him run back onto the plane after being dragged down the aisle. A short time later, a medical crew came aboard to tend to the man, she said. Some passengers left the plane after the incident.

"Everyone was shocked and appalled," Bridges said. "There were several children on the flight as well that were very upset."

United Airline's Image Takes Online Beating In Memes, Comments: Social media reaction to video footage of a passenger being dragged from a full flight Sunday night has been swift and merciless.

United Airlines claimed the flight was overbooked, but the passengers aboard the full flight were asked to deplane when four employees arrived at the gate and said they needed to take over the seats.

“Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked," the airline said in a statement. "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."

Initially, United Airlines offered $400 to passengers who voluntarily gave up their seats. The offer was upped to $800, but no one volunteered, according to witnesses. That's when four passengers were randomly selected.

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat from Evanston, was appalled at the series of events and promised action.

"The situation that United Airlines faced was one of their own making: United had overbooked its own flight and chose to forcibly remove a passenger instead of increasing their offer until a passenger chose to leave the flight willingly. This use of excessive force is absolutely unacceptable," Schakowsky said in a statement. "The response from United Airlines has been brazenly inadequate - their apology over having to 're-accommodate' passengers is completely insulting, and their attempt to pass the buck by blaming the Chicago Police Department for the incident demonstrates that they do not understand the gravity of this incident. At a minimum, United Airlines must immediately change their policy and give full restitution and compensation to the victim. This is far from the end of the story."

Even though the Chicago Police Department was not involved in the incident, many news outlets that didn't realize Aviation Department Police are a different agency called Chicago Police for comment. Instead of remaining quiet on the matter, CPD told reporters the man "fell" on his face and injured himself. In a statement, CPD described the passenger as "irate" and said aviation security officers "attempted to carry" the man off the plane "when he fell."

"His head subsequently struck an armrest causing injuries to his face," reads the CPD statement.

United Airlines is being roasted and mocked on social media for this incident, which comes just a week after a national kerfuffle in which the airline refused to let girls fly because they wore leggings.

If u purchase a @united airline ticket, u are automatically entered into their raffle to become a victim of police brutality. #flight3411
— AGirlHasNoPresident (@kamtheleo) April 10, 2017

@United This is utterly horrifying I hope this man has a lovely retirement w/ the millions he wins in his lawsuit #boycottUnited #flight3411
— lolita shatter (@shatterlo) April 10, 2017

I hope that man sues the pants off @United. That video is a terrible start to my day, I feel terrible for that gentleman #Flight3411
— Mario Damico (@damico2414) April 10, 2017

Dear #united, I had to "re-accommodate" someone once pic.twitter.com/MP3ZJDv85m
— Joe Thomas (@joethomas73) April 10, 2017

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2 Girls Denied Boarding For Wearing Leggings: United Airlines said the travelers in question were subject to a dress code as they were affiliated with the airline.