Silke Jasso
It was the kind of news that you had to see to believe. And, the kind of news that caused an uproar on social media.
Videos by Rare
On Sunday, April 9, a paying passenger on a United Airlines flight was forcibly removed from the plane after refusing to give up his seat due to what was originally claimed to be an overbooking issue.
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The 69-year-old passenger, David Dao, was yanked from his seat and violently dragged off of the aircraft by law enforcement officers. According to CBS New York, he suffered from visible injuries after hitting his head on an armrest. You can see footage of the incident in the Tweet below.
@united @FoxNews @CNN not a good way to treat a Doctor trying to get to work because they overbooked pic.twitter.com/sj9oHk94Ik
— Tyler Bridges (@Tyler_Bridges) April 9, 2017
After witnesses captured and posted evidence of the scene to social media, twitter users, celebrities and other prolific people weighed in on the issue.
Now, Brad Paisley is lending his voice to the eyebrow-raising incident. On April 12, he tweeted, “You can’t overbook concerts, and you shouldn’t be allowed to overbook planes.”
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You can't overbook concerts, and you shouldn't be allowed to overbook planes.
— Brad Paisley (@BradPaisley) April 12, 2017
Turns out that overbooking the flight wasn’t actually the case. In fact, the episode occurred because four United employees needed to travel to the flight’s destination – Louisville, Kentucky – as they were assigned on duty there. Paying customers were asked to volunteer their seat, in return a voucher.
Despite the incentives offered by the airline, Dr. David Dao insisted that he couldn’t lend his place to anyone, because he had to work the following morning. At the time, his request was not granted. United CEO Oscar Munoz has since apologized for the horrific event.
