Remember when Louisville doctor David Dao was physically dragged off an overbooked United flight back in April, for the heinous offense of refusing to give up his seat? Well, two aviation security officials involved in the incident, in which the 69-year-old received concussion and a broken nose and teeth, have been fired.
The firings were revealed in a quarterly report from the Chicago inspector general, Joseph Ferguson. Neither of the sacked officials were named in the report.
One officer was fired for escalating “a non-threatening situation into a physically violent one” and for the injuries caused by his “excessive force.” A sergeant also lost his job because he “deliberately removed material facts” from a report about the incident.
Two other officers also received five-day suspensions for making misleading statements and “material omissions” in their reports.
According to Ferguson’s report, his office’s investigation showed that there was “significant confusion” at the Chicago Department of Aviation over the “roles and expectations” of aviation security officers.
The Dao incident caused global outrage, partly because a video of it went viral. United escaped a fine for violating Dao’s civil rights, due to a lack of evidence. Dao sued the airline and received an undisclosed settlement.
It wasn’t the last such incident. Just last month, Southwest Airlines had to apologize after a similar incident in which a woman was dragged off her flight for objecting to another passenger’s pet being on the flight. Again, cellphone footage of the incident went viral.
