Eyewitness recounts passenger's removal from plane
Controversial video of passenger being dragged off overbooked United Airlines plane has gone viral. Tyler Bridges, who shot the video, details the events leading up to the incident #Tucker
A United Airlines passenger who filmed the moment a fellow flyer was dragged off an overbooked flight at Chicago's O'Hare Airport Sunday told Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that the airline "definitely could have handled this in a better way."
Tyler Bridges told host Tucker Carlson Monday night that the unidentified passenger was one of four people asked to give up their seat on the Louisville-bound plane to make room for United staffers.
POLICE VIOLENTLY DRAG MAN FROM UNITED PLANE AFTER AIRLINE REPORTEDLY OVERBOOKED FLIGHT
"No one wanted to volunteer to get off the plane because the next flight wasn’t until 2 p.m. the next day, which is almost a full 24 hours later," said Bridges, who added that the airline selected which flyers to eject "based on an internal algorithm that weighs in ... who was the last to purchase."
Bridges said the unidentified passenger was told he had to leave, but the man refused to do so.
"He said he was a doctor, he had patients he had to see in the morning, he wasn’t going to get off the plane," Bridges recounted, "and the gate agent was like, ‘You have to get off the plane. If you don’t get off, we’ll call in security.’ And he was like, ‘Fine, call security, I’m not getting off the plane.’"
Bridges said the man wasn't being violent with security and police officers who responded, but did say he was "kind of [flailing] his arms and trying to keep them away from him and ultimately they had to use the force, as you can see in the video."
The shocked passengers berated United employees who boarded the plane in the ejected flyers' place.
Late Monday, United CEO Oscar Munoz issued a statement apologizing for having to "re-accommodate these customers."
"Does that look like re-accommodation to you?" Carlson asked. "There’s no mention of the fact that this guy is bloody and unconscious. That’s re-accommodation, according to United Airlines."