Man Dragged off United Airlines/Flight Overbooked, April 2017

[Estelle]

It might not have been with the intent of subduing him, I admit that, but his head very clearly gets bashed against the armrest purposely. Anyone with the gift of sight can see that.

It was accidental head damage.

 

[CARIIS]

It's money in their pockets. If you don't show up, they sell the seat to someone else, and get paid twice. They hope you won't show up.

I think the overbooking is like a hangover of days gone by. In the old days tickets were refundable.

So back then it made sense to overbook cause you would have to refund and end up with a seat not generating revenue.

WIth the introduction and widespread policy of non-refundable tickets the notion of overbooking should IMO be ceased--it always creates a ruckus, which delays the entire network.

The ramifications of "late" are enormous and spread out throughout the system- I do not understand why, at the end of the day they bother with overbooking any longer.

Your staff is all tied up trying to rebook the bumped folks , missed connections, lack of public goodwill, fuel costs (have to hold over other airport), catering, gate assignment issues, baggage hassles, adding the risk of having to make a crew change down the line cause of the delay and flight time limitations of crews down the line.

All seats are generating revenue hit the wild blue wonder!!

jmo

 

[CARIIS]

In an article linked earlier, I found this :

United Express Flight 3411 hadn't left O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on its way to Louisville when the incident occurred.

to be hysterical and moronic sentence- obviously, they were not in mid air --airport security can't board an aircraft at 35,000 feet moving at 475 mph!!

Kinda a given in light of the story! moo

 

[Jax49]

In an article linked earlier, I found this :

United Express Flight 3411 hadn't left O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on its way to Louisville when the incident occurred.

to be hysterical and moronic sentence- obviously, they were not in mid air --airport security can't board an aircraft at 35,000 feet moving at 475 mph!!

Kinda a given in light of the story! moo

Hi C. I cracked up when I read that.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Oh my, people are still arguing that this guy was wrong??? Even the CEO of United admitted they made a mistake and the security officer that caused bodily injury to this passenger has been put on leave without pay pending investigation.

*this is my version of ROLL & SCROLL*

 

[Estelle]

I think it's important for people to research their doctors. I wouldn't want him practicing medicine on me.

Maybe his past isn't pertinent in regards to this incident idk. He has anger issues that could be relevant if this case goes to trial but that seems unlikely. JMO

More information here.

http://www.state.ky.us/agencies/kbml/finalorders/22439.pdf

I would not want him as my doctor either! IMO mental health and anger issues are relevant as his behaviour was bizarre IMO screaming out as he did.

 

[Jax49]

Oh my, people are still arguing that this guy was wrong??? Even the CEO of United admitted they made a mistake and the security officer that caused bodily injury to this passenger has been put on leave without pay pending investigation.

*this is my version of ROLL & SCROLL*

Yep, still...smh.

 

[MsArk]

I've been bumped from one flight and one paid-for reserved train seat for a long-planned trip. Each was disappointing of course, but not worth causing a scene, throwing a tantrum, etc. because it wasn't the fault of the flight attendants or the train attendant or the other passengers and it wouldn't have changed anything for the better. I sucked it up and considered it a pay-it-forward that someone else could get on their way to something life changing perhaps or even something that was just plain silly fun. Stuff happens. Good stuff happens to me far more than negative; maybe it's the way I view it. Not saying mean people don't try their best to be nasty or hurtful, they do.

I'm pretty sure that not many people like having to tell a passenger they have to leave their flight or trip. I handled each episode in a different way and none involved having a tantrum.

The older I get, the less of a shrinking violet I am (obviously) but I pick my battles and choose not to add unnecessary stress to myself by getting angry about something that's not life-changing. There are many other things in the world that deserve people's anger and action.

How we handle disappointments affects our health and general happiness. I don't want to have a stroke or a heart attack or cause someone else misery by being a jerk myself.

It's all well and good to be right legally, but it doesn't mean **** in reality. This guy's reality was physical damage, he embarrassed himself, some of his past deeds have been published for all who cares to read about them.

He may have been legally within his rights, but it didn't matter at the moment. Some will say that his probable huge payoff will make it better. Not worth it to me. No amount of money would make me want to risk being physically harmed even if it was incidental.

We're all individuals who have different thoughts on what is right for ourselves.

eace:

I think this is one of the best posts on thread. Thank you!

 

[chlban]

That is your assumption that he mentioned he was a doctor because he "thought it made him more important that other passengers".

Regardless, whether or not you have any sympathy for this guy has no bearing on whether or not what happened was legally defensible or morally correct.

I probably would have done the same thing he did up to the point where they were clearly about to put their hands on me, then I would have agreed to leave.

It is interesting to read how some people interpret his behavior and the conclusions they draw, I have to wonder if people would feel the same way if it was an old woman the same age as him.

I am a 62 year old woman with nothing in my past that they could use against me, other than a minor traffic violation, and I would have refused.

I am sure the "Big Brother" is always right crowd would have had no problem with them dragging me off the plane. It is just the mentality of some people. Some bizarre idea that you have to obey anyone in uniform. You do not.

First of all, this was a civil matter. He committed no crime on the day in question. Even real cops have no authority to intervene in civil matters. If you are a landlord and your tenants haven't paid for 6 months, try calling the local PD to get them out of the property you own. It won't happen.

You must go to civil court, get a court order and then, and only then, can you have the Marshall's office remove them.

Cops, real or otherwise, cannot arrest or subdue anyone unless they have exigent circumstances or you are suspected of committing a crime. There was no crime committed by the passenger. However, there was one committed against him.

 

[Estelle]

I've not read to the end of the thread so don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but it seems this passenger and his history is being confused with a different Dr David Dao with different middle names. Maybe he has potential for an action for defamation as well ....

Source: https://twitter.com/MarkTranSD via https://twitter.com/Idealaw

Dr Dao studied in Vietnam, his wife is a doctor and he lives in Kentucky which shows here:
http://web1.ky.gov/GenSearch/LicenseList.aspx?AGY=5&FLD1=dao&FLD2=&FLD3=0&FLD4=0&TYPE=

Then I found this link:

Yes, it was Kentucky doctor David Dao who was dragged off that United plane

Some on social media are mistakenly claiming that the man dragged off a full United Airlines flight Sunday is NOT a 69-year-old Elizabethtown, Kentucky, physician but a doctor in New Orleans but YES it is him.

On Monday evening, the Courier-Journal confirmed the name of David Dao with a source with direct knowledge of the passenger's identity who asked to remain unnamed because the person was not authorized to speak about the incident.

Additionally, Kentucky court, property and medical licensure board records of 69-year-old Elizabethtown doctor David Dao match information provided by Chicago authorities, Dao's attorneys and those who know the Kentucky doctor.

A statement issued by the Chicago Police Department – which was not directly involved in the incident – earlier this week described the man dragged off the plane as a 69-year-old Asian male. Court records in Kentucky of a David A. Dao match that age, sex and race and provide an address that corresponds with medical licensure board records for Dao, who is listed as both David A. Dao and David A. D. Dao.

Meanwhile, some online sleuths have suggested the United customer was a David Dao, with a different middle name, who practices medicine in Louisiana. A search of online records – including Louisiana medical licensing records, a health insurance industry site and an address database – show that man indeed has a different middle name and is significantly younger than 69.

http://www.courier-journal.com/stor...d-dao-who-dragged-off-united-plane/100380420/

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Apr 13 2017, 8:01 am ET

David Dao, Doctor Dragged Off Plane, Files Court Papers Demanding United Airlines Preserve Evidence

by Corky Siemaszko

The United Airlines passenger who was videotaped being bloodied and dragged off an overbooked plane by airport police signaled Wednesday he would fight back in court.

David Dao filed an emergency "bill of discovery" against the carrier in Illinois State Court demanding that evidence documenting Sunday's "re-accommodation" aboard a Kentucky-bound plane be "preserved and protected." ...

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...e-files-court-papers-demanding-united-n745721

 

[gitana1]

What is all this talk of "denied boarding"?

This man was not denied boarding as far as I can tell as he was already in the plane and issued a seat. It's one thing to do this at the gate and something entirely different to do it on the aircraft.

United screwed up big time there.

Several people are trying to say that because the plane wasn't flying, he hadn't actually boarded!! United isn't actually saying that now though.

 

[gitana1]

More information here.

http://www.state.ky.us/agencies/kbml/finalorders/22439.pdf

I would not want him as my doctor either! IMO mental health and anger issues are relevant as his behaviour was bizarre IMO screaming out as he did.

No. It's irrelevant whether you'd want him as your doctor or not. Or whether he is a good doctor or not. The people on the plane were visibly upset with what happened. There is no evidence that he started screaming or anything else
until hands were put on him.

 

[Gardenista]

More information here.

http://www.state.ky.us/agencies/kbml/finalorders/22439.pdf

I would not want him as my doctor either! IMO mental health and anger issues are relevant as his behaviour was bizarre IMO screaming out as he did.

Just skimmed this and holy cow--this is unbelievable. IMO, helps explain his abnormal/psycho behavior on the plane--he's a disaster.

He should have been required to give this document to every patient before treatment.

 

[gitana1]

Also I read on a Daily Mail article that he was told he was being bumped BEFORE he boarded the aircraft but he refused then, was rude and kept going onto the plane and took his seat without permission. If it was so important the he arrive the next morning for patients, why didn't his wife offer to deplane instead? I predict he told a lie about having appointments the next morning! I also read a comment on DM where someone said he caused the bleeding himself but biting his lip.

Just trying to look at two sides to the story.

There is not one legitimate news source that reported that. And it makes zero sense. If he was told he was being bumped before he boarded he would
not have been allowed to board at all. You have to go through the gate.

United itself doesn't say he was told this in advance.

I'm stunned at the desperate lengths some will go to protect this corporation. Trying to pretend that verbs don't mean what they mean. Dragging the man's entire mental health and work history into the case, adding rumors such as these that zero reputable news agencies have reported.

Stunning.

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

I think a person's history might be relevant especially if this case goes to trial. Maybe not the fact that he's a bad doctor but his documented anger issues may come into play. I would be interested to know the history of the TSA agents that forcefully removed him as well. JMO

 

[Gardenista]

There is not one legitimate news source that reported that. And it makes zero sense. If he was told he was being bumped before he boarded he would
not have been allowed to board at all. You have to go through the gate.

United itself doesn't say he was told this in advance.

I'm stunned at the desperate lengths some will go to protect this corporation. Trying to pretend that verbs don't mean what they mean. Dragging the man's entire mental health and work history into the case, adding rumors such as these that zero reputable news agencies have reported.

Stunning.

I'm stunned at the desperate lengths some will go to protect him. Of course his past behavior is relevant. It always is. In EVERY case.

 

[Jax49]

I'm stunned at the desperate lengths some will go to protect him. Of course his past behavior is relevant. It always is. In EVERY case.

He is the VICTIM in this case.

 

[Rocco]

I am a 62 year old woman with nothing in my past that they could use against me, other than a minor traffic violation, and I would have refused.

I am sure the "Big Brother" is always right crowd would have had no problem with them dragging me off the plane. It is just the mentality of some people. Some bizarre idea that you have to obey anyone in uniform. You do not.

First of all, this was a civil matter. He committed no crime on the day in question. Even real cops have no authority to intervene in civil matters. If you are a landlord and your tenants haven't paid for 6 months, try calling the local PD to get them out of the property you own. It won't happen.

You must go to civil court, get a court order and then, and only then, can you have the Marshall's office remove them.

Cops, real or otherwise, cannot arrest or subdue anyone unless they have exigent circumstances or you are suspected of committing a crime. There was no crime committed by the passenger. However, there was one committed against him.

They didn't remove him because he committed a crime. They removed him because according to United policy, which he agreed to when he bought his ticket, they can take their seat back at their discretion. He was told if he didn't leave the seat, he would be physically removed. And then he was.

 

[gitana1]

It was accidental head damage.

So? You can't order people dragged off a plane because you want their seat. If their face gets "accidentally" bashed, that's battery. Just the dragging off the plane is.

People can defend this airline and try to find any angle they can to blame
the man instead. But the bottom line is that despite the threat of a lawsuit, United itself has finally admitted wrongdoing.

As stated here, any first year lawyer could find multiple theories of liability due to what happened here.

[video]http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/13/news/companies/united-legal-issues/index.html[/video]

There is a concept in law called the eggshell skull theory. It means that if the man had a mental health condition that caused him to react more strongly to the assault that was done to him, that's likely no defense to that assault. You take a victim as you find them in civil law. You don't get to use a defense the fact a plaintiff might have been more fragile than most.
What happened to this man was wrong. United knows it. Legal experts know it. His fellow passengers know it. Most of the public knows it.


He's going to sue and get a large payout. Period.