Married doctor dragged from US jet ‘was nearly struck off for trading drugs for gay sex’
Medic’s past revealed as video wipes £800m off airline’s value
the passenger seen being dragged off a US plane in a video which shocked the world was yesterday identified as a doctor with a criminal past.
Shares in United Airlines’ parent company plunged after the emergence of the footage – in which a man is forcibly pulled from an overbooked flight as other passengers watch in horror.
he was removed by security at Chicago O’hare International Airport when he refused to make way for airline staff who needed to get to Louisville, Kentucky, for work the next day.
United had asked for volunteers to get a later flight in return for £800 compensation. But when no one stepped forward, they randomly selected four passengers to leave.
the man was identified by US media as Dr David Dao, a 69-year-old grand-
father who had his medical licence suspended in 2003 for supplying prescription drugs to a male patient in return for sexual favours – which he denied. But his hotel room liaisons with the man were recorded by undercover agents and he was found guilty on a controlled drugs charge.
Dr Dao received a suspended jail term of two years and eight months, and was told to pay a £4,000 fine.
After his medical licence was suspended he became a semi-professional poker player, it was claimed. In 2015 his licence was partially reinstated, with some restrictions on access to patients. his doctor wife theresa – who stood by him after initially reporting him to investigators over his relationship with the man – was also thought to be on the flight.
the video sparked outrage after it was posted online, with many threatening to boycott the airline. Stock in parent company United Continental holdings fell by 4 per cent – with almost £800million wiped off its value at one point.
Dr Dao can be heard screaming in the footage, before security staff pull him from his seat and drag him along the floor, his shirt riding up to expose his stomach. Later, he is shown standing in the plane with blood dripping from his lip, muttering ‘I need to go
home’ and ‘just kill me’.
One woman can be heard screaming: ‘Oh my God, no, this is wrong, look what you did to him.’ Airlines routinely overbook flights as some passengers do not turn up. Jayse D Anspach, who posted the footage online, said on twitter: ‘United overbooked and wanted four of us to volunteer to give up our seats for personnel that needed to be at work the next day. No one volunteered. ‘they chose an Asian doctor and his wife. the doctor needed to work at the hospital the next day, so he refused to volunteer. ten minutes later, the doctor runs back into the plane with a bloody face, clings to a post in the back, chanting, “I need to go home”.’ After a three-hour delay, United express Flight 3411 took off without Dr Dao aboard on April 9. the airline originally apologised for the ‘upsetting incident’ and said ‘the actions of the aviation security officer are obviously not condoned’. A member of Chicago airport’s security team was put on leave. But in a leaked internal email, United later praised staff for going ‘above and beyond’ and accused Dr Dao of being ‘disruptive and belligerent’, leaving crew with no choice but to call security. Chief executive Oscar Munoz added that ‘while the facts and circumstances are still evolving ... I want to commend you for continuing to go above and beyond to ensure we fly right.’ however, he later said in a statement that the video was ‘truly horrific’, adding: ‘I want you to know that we take full responsibility and we will work to make it right.’ Dr Dao went to medical school in Vietnam in the 1970s before moving to the US. his wife – with whom he is believed to have once owned a practice – works in elizabethtown, Kentucky. Four of their five children are also doctors.
‘He ran back in with a bloody face’