Dragged United Passenger

Files Legal Action Over Forceful Deplaning
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It was just a matter of time.

On Wednesday afternoon, just three days after the "dragging" incident which quickly crossed the globe courtesy of a viral video, lawyers for Dr. David Dao, the passenger dragged from a United Airlines plane in Chicago, filed an emergency request with an Illinois state court on Wednesday to require the carrier to preserve video recordings and other evidence related to the incident. The Sunday evening incident caused a furor around the world as video recorded by fellow passengers showed airport security officers yanking Dr. David Dao from his seat aboard the flight. The uproar stemmed from Dao's status as a paying passenger who was being removed to make room for additional crew members on the overbooked flight.

Footage from the incident showed Dao, bloodied and disheveled, returning to the cabin and repeating: "Just kill me. Kill me," and "I have to go home."

As reported by Reuters, citing the risk of "serious prejudice" to their client, Dao's lawyers want United and the City of Chicago, which runs O'Hare International Airport, to preserve surveillance videos, cockpit voice recordings, passenger and crew lists, and other materials related to United Flight 3411.

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