Southwest Airlines Apologizes After Video Shows Woman Being Dragged off Plane
A woman claimed she had a “deadly allergy” to dogs and asked that the two dogs on board to be removed. She was asked to deplane and forcibly removed as she was yelled: “My dad has surgery tomorrow. I’m sorry, my dad has a surgery. What are you doing?” , “Don’t touch me! I’m walking!” , “I’m a professor. What are you doing?”
Southwest Airlines has apologized to a passenger who was recorded being pulled off of a Los Angeles-bound flight after she told the crew she had a life-threatening pet allergy.
A video showed a woman repeatedly asking Transportation Authority officers, “What are you guys doing?” as they wrap their arms around her and begin to pull her down the aisle.
According to CBS, Bill Dumas, who filmed the video, said the woman claimed she had a “deadly allergy” to dogs and asked that the two animals on board be removed. Dumas said the woman asked for a type of injection to alleviate her symptoms after the crew told her they could not remove the animals.
Dumas said he heard a flight attendant say they needed a certificate to administer an injection, which the woman didn’t have. A pilot offered to let the woman exit the plane so an injection could be administered, but she refused, he said.
In the video officers are seen moving the woman down the aisle. She can then be heard pleading with them to let her stay.
“My dad has surgery tomorrow. I’m sorry, my dad has a surgery. What are you doing?” she says frantically, as she resists the officers.
“C’mon, lady. Let’s go,” an officer responds.
Some passengers suggest the woman make the complaint off of the flight and leave as instructed.
The scuffle pauses briefly as the woman accuses the officers of ripping her pants. They tell her to fix her pants and leave the plane.
When it seems like the woman is hesitating, an officer wraps his arms around the woman’s chest and begins to forcefully drag her down the aisle. She begins shrieking, “Don’t touch me! I’m walking!”
A sense of anxiety can be heard in the voices of those around her. One woman can be heard saying, “Show them that you’re walking.”
An officer yells, “Then walk!”
“I can’t walk. He’s got my leg,” the woman replies.
Tempers seem to boil over as an officer shoves the woman toward the door. She turns and says, “I’m a professor. What are you doing?”
As the police continue to wrestle the woman down the aisle, a man’s voice is heard saying, “Geez, lady. Get off the plane. Make the complaint later.”
The woman was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, failure to obey a reasonable and lawful order, disturbing the peace, obstructing and hindering a police officer, and resisting arrest. She was transported to the Anne County Court Commissioner before she was released on her own recognizance, police said.
“We are disheartened by the way this situation unfolded and the Customer’s removal by local law enforcement officers,” Southwest Airlines said in the statement. “We publicly offer our apologies to this Customer for her experience and we will be contacting her directly to address her concerns. Southwest Airlines was built on Customer Service, and it is always our goal for all Customers to have a positive experience.”
The response from Southwest Airlines was much different compared to the United Airline David Dao incident in which a now-viral video showed Dr. David Dao being bloodied as he was dragged off of a plane. On April 9, 2017, police violently and forcibly ejected passenger David Dao from a United flight. United airline not only did not apologize but also blamed the passenger.
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