David Dao ‘just cried’ when seeing footage of himself being dragged off United flight
The doctor spoke publicly about the encounter for the first time
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David Dao said he “just cried” when watching footage of himself being dragged off a United Airlines flight for the first time.
The doctor, whose violent removal from a Chicago-Louisville flight made international news in 2017, spoke publicly of the incident for the first time on Good Morning America.
Dao has since retired and admitted he had stayed “for months, months in (the) house”, due to all the attention he received following video of his altercation going viral.
It showed officers physically dragging him along the floor after he refused to give up his seat for shuttling United cabin crew.
According to witnesses, Dao was not belligerent or disruptive; he explained that he was a physician who needed to stay on the flight to go to work the following day.
He was left with concussion, a broken nose and lost two teeth in the struggle.
Despite the trauma, Dao said he forgave the officers involved.
“I’m not angry with them. They have a job to do. They have to do (it),“ he said. ”If they don’t do it, they may lose (their) job. So I’m not angry with them or anything like this.”
The incident resulted in two Chicago aviation security officers losing their jobs, Dao being awarded an undisclosed financial settlement, and United and other US airlines rethinking their policies on bumping passengers.
United CEO Oscar Munoz apologised at the time, saying the encounter was ”truly horrific”.
The airline will no longer involuntarily remove passengers who have boarded unless it’s a safety or security issue.
Southwest Airlines also made changes, saying it would stop overbooking flights, while Delta and United pledged to offer volunteers up to $10,000 to give up their seats if needed.
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