Lawyer: Doctor dragged from United flight planning legal action

His lawyer will also represent the woman in a recent American Airlines incident.

ByABC News
April 24, 2017, 5:55 PM

— -- The doctor who was dragged off a United flight by Chicago Department of Aviation security officers earlier this month is preparing for legal action over the incident, his lawyer told ABC News.

When asked by ABC News' Linsey Davis in an interview on Monday if Dr. Dao is planning legal action, attorney Thomas Demetrio said they are "getting ready."

United told ABC News that it had offered passengers on the plane up to $800 to give up their seats for four crew members who needed to board. No one volunteered, so the airline generated a list of four names to be removed from the flight and re-accommodated, per by the airline's contract of carriage. Three of those people complied, and one did not. That's when the police were called to remove the man, later identified as Dao.

United CEO Oscar Munoz apologized for the incident and has vowed that the company will conduct a “thorough review” of the “truly horrific event.”

Dao is still receiving treatment after suffering injuries in the April 9 incident, according to his lawyer.

Demetrio added that he has received hundreds of emails from passengers about their experiences on flights after taking up the Kentucky doctor's case.

Dao's lawyer is also representing an American Airlines passenger who is at the center of another viral video posted to Facebook on Friday. The footage shows an intense confrontation between a flight attendant and at least two passengers after a woman tried to bring her double-wide stroller on board a plane.

The airline’s rules for passengers traveling with children say strollers should be checked at the gate.

American Airlines responded to the incident shortly after the video began to circulate online, announcing in a statement that the flight attendant had been put on leave while the incident was investigated and that the woman and her family were upgraded to first class for the remainder of their international trip.

"What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers," American Airlines added in its statement. "We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident."

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