‘I AM NOT GOING!’
Jet vid shows lead-up to tussle
New video emerged Wednesday of United Airlines passenger Dr. David Dao arguing with cops before being dragged off a plane — as the company’s CEO vowed it would never happen again.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Dao — who was also recorded threatening to sue the airline — filed court papers seeking to preserve surveillance video, the cockpit voice recording and other evidence tied to the violent incident at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.
United also said it was issuing refunds to every passenger who had to sit through the debacle that delayed United Express Flight 3411 to Louisville, Ky., on Sunday.
A video shot from the row behind Dao shows him adamantly refusing to give up his seat while being confronted by a Chicago aviation cop and simultaneously speaking on a cellphone.
“I won’t go. I’m a physician. I have to work tomorrow, 8 o’clock,” Dao says.
At one point, he threatens to “make a lawsuit against United Airline” before insisting: “No, I am not going. I am not going!”
Dao also responds to the cop by saying, “Well, you can then drag me down, I won’t go. I’m not going. I’m staying right here.”
Embattled United CEO Oscar Munoz publicly promised that cops wouldn’t ever again haul a paying passenger off one of the company’s planes.
“We are not gonna put a law-enforcement official [on] to take them off,” Munoz told ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“To remove a booked, paid, seating passenger, we can’t do that.”
Munoz said he felt “shame” upon seeing video of Dao getting bloodied, but the CEO said he would ignore calls to resign over the embarrassing episode.
He also blamed his initial reaction — when in an internal memo he accused Dao of being “disruptive and belligerent” — on a need “to get the facts and circumstances.”
“I do look forward to a time when I can, as much as I’ve been able, to apologize directly to him for what’s happened,” Munoz added.
A spokeswoman for Dao’s lawyers wouldn’t say if Dao was willing to meet Munoz face to face.
Neither the Chicago Law Department nor United, which are named in Dao’s court filing, would comment on the suit.