Police: 'Minimal but necessary force' used on United Airlines passenger

This article is more than 12 months old

Apr 26, 2017 06:00 am

CHICAGO: A police officer said "minimal but necessary force" was used to remove a United Airlines customer from a plane, in what has become a public relations disaster for the company.

Video taken by other passengers showed Dr David Dao, a 69-year-old Vietnamese-American doctor, being dragged up the aisle with blood on his face after the airline decided it needed his seat for a crew member on a flight from Chicago to Kentucky on April 9.

Dr Dao, who had a concussion and a broken nose and lost two front teeth, is likely to sue the airline, his lawyer, Thomas Demetrio, has said. In its initial reaction, the airline did not apologise to Dr Dao and described him as "disruptive and belligerent".

Mr Demetrio said through a spokesman to the Wall Street Journal that the police version of events was "utter nonsense. Consider the source."- REUTERS