Doctor dragged off United flight breaks his silence two years later

The Kentucky doctor who was dragged off a United flight bruised and bloodied has broken his silence two years after the ordeal saying he ‘just cried’ when he watched the viral footage of himself. 

Dr David Dao, 69, was forcibly removed from the overbooked flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on April 9, 2017 when he was trying to fly back to Louisville with his pediatrician wife Teresa. 

Cellphone footage of the bleeding grandfather being hauled off the plane by agents when he refused to give up his seat to make way for airline staff caused global outrage. 

Dao told ABC News on Tuesday that he struggled to watch the video months after the incident. 

‘I just cried,’ he said. 

Dr David Dao, 69, has just spoken out about being forcibly removed from an overbooked United flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on April 9, 2017 

Dao said he suffered a concussion, cuts to his mouth and nose and had several teeth knocked out when he was dragged off the plane. 

He also said he was put on suicide watch in hospital and had to spend months learning how to walk again.

The doctor described those first few months as ‘horrible’.

He said he continues to struggle with sleeping, concentration and balance issues two years on. 

Despite the trauma, Dao said he was glad he stood his ground and refused to give up his seat because it resulted in United investigating and changing its policies in the wake of the global outrage.

Dao and his wife had planned to fly from Chicago to Louisville that day so they could open a clinic they had set up for U.S. veterans.

The couple wanted to start the clinic to thank veterans because the U.S. Navy helped rescue him from the water when he fled Vietnam 44 years ago. 

Dao said he was already buckled in his seat ready for take off when he was pulled by his seat by agents. 

Cellphone footage of the bleeding grandfather being hauled off the plane by agents when he refused to give up his seat to make way for airline staff caused global outrage

Cellphone footage of the bleeding grandfather being hauled off the plane by agents when he refused to give up his seat to make way for airline staff caused global outrage

Dao said that he struggled to watch the video months after the incident after it showed him being hauled off the plane by agents

The doctor said he suffered a concussion, cuts to his mouth and nose and had several teeth knocked out as a result

Dao said that he struggled to watch the video months after the incident after it showed him being hauled off the plane by agents. The doctor said he suffered a concussion, cuts to his mouth and nose and had several teeth knocked out as a result 

He said he hit his head on the ceiling above his seat and doesn’t remember anything after that. 

‘After that, to be honest, I don’t know what happened,’ he said. 

He added that he heard a ‘big noise’ and woke up in the hospital surrounded by a trauma team. 

Immediately after the incident, United had accused the doctor and his wife of refusing to give up their seats to make way for airline employees who needed to fly. 

Dao was heard in the video saying he couldn’t get off the plane because he needed to get back to Louisville to see patients. 

In the days following the incident, United CEO Oscar Munoz initially said in an internal email to staff that the passenger was ‘disruptive and belligerent’. 

Munoz also praised his staff for going ‘above and beyond’.

He said that while he was ‘upset’ to hear about the man being violently dragged off the flight, that airline crew had simply been following ‘established procedures.’

The CEO described how flight crews had offered up to $1,000 in compensation for anyone willing to catch the next flight before approaching the passenger to ‘explain apologetically’ that he was being denied boarding. 

Dao is a father of five and a grandfather who specializes in internal medicine. His wife Teresa is a pediatrician and four of their five children are doctors. They are pictured above with their grandchildren

Dao is a father of five and a grandfather who specializes in internal medicine. His wife Teresa is a pediatrician and four of their five children are doctors. They are pictured above with their grandchildren

Dao, pictured with his wife and one of their grandchildren, said he continues to struggle with sleeping, concentration and balance issues two years on from the United ordeal

Dao, pictured with his wife and one of their grandchildren, said he continues to struggle with sleeping, concentration and balance issues two years on from the United ordeal

He had then ‘raised his voice and refused to comply’ with the crew’s requests to leave the aircraft, and became increasingly ‘disruptive and belligerent,’ he said.

‘Our agents were left with no choice, but to call Chicago Aviation Security Officers to assist in removing the customer from the flight, he repeatedly decline to leave.’

Munoz added that the passenger refused to comply with the officers who then ‘physically removed him from the flight as he continued to resist – running back onto the aircraft in defiance of both out crew and security officials.’

‘While I deeply regret this situation arose, I also emphatically stand behind all of you, and I want to commend you for continuing to go above and beyond to ensure we fly right,’ he said. 

Social media erupted immediately when the email became public, labeling Munoz and United ‘tone deaf’ and ‘condescending’. 

The CEO later issued a public apology saying he ‘apologized for having to re-accommodate these customers’.

United offered Dao an undisclosed settlement weeks after the incident. 

In a statement, United said the flight was a defining moment for the airline and the company continues to learn from that experience. They said the changes implemented since that incident ensured better service for customers and empowered their employees.  

Dao is a father of five and a grandfather who specializes in internal medicine. His wife is a pediatrician and four of their five children are doctors. 

Details of his past emerged in the wake of the United incident, including that he had previously been given a suspended jail sentence for illegally obtaining and trafficking controlled substances by fraud and deceit.

It emerged that he had been soliciting prescription drugs in return for gay sex with a patient. His license was suspended in 2003, and it was then partially re-instated in 2015.  

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