coming scandal and a superb example of our ghastly echo chamber media that parrots anything that appears in another publication..

the hapless victim assaulted and dragged of the United Airlines flight - in breach of their own rules and contract ticket which states a passenger even though booked and confirmed can be refused a seat at check-in (not once they have boarded and seated) has been confused for a Kentucky man with a very similar name and a criminal record.

So they beat up a passenger unlawfully and then attempted to destroy him in the world's media and the idiots (yes you too Daily Mail) have libeled the poor chap.

Lawyers- please form an orderly queue...

hedda wrote:
...has been confused for a Kentucky man with a very similar name and a criminal record...
Is the United Airlines man being smeared in the media even the right David Dao? It shouldn't matter

"There is presently confusion about whether the man on the United flight was actually David Thanh Duc Dao, quite possibly another person entirely to David Anh Duy Dao, the man with the criminal records."

I wonder if (or ...er... ... hope that) Thanh Duc and Anh Duy are just different anglicised spellings of the same Vietnamese name.

It seems that my idea about the names being different spellings of one person's name is incorrect and they do refer to two different people, but the person on the plane is nevertheless the one with the criminal record.

No, the media did not identify the wrong David Dao as United's passenger

Hedda - under international aviation law, any passenger(s) may be removed from their seats and forcibly ejected from a commercial aircraft.

If - the Captain so orders. No reasons have to be given and the power is absolute, and cannot be disputed or overturned by anyone.

However, in this case, the way in which the order was carried out was abysmal.

Ships' Captains have similar broad powers.

Spee wrote:
Hedda - under international aviation law, any passenger(s) may be removed from their seats and forcibly ejected from a commercial aircraft.

If - the Captain so orders. No reasons have to be given and the power is absolute, and cannot be disputed or overturned by anyone.

However, in this case, the way in which the order was carried out was abysmal.

Ships' Captains have similar broad powers.



and to that I say utter bollocks.

As far as contracts go : airlines can & do double book however United like everyone other airline clearly state in their tickets (a contract) that a passenger when checking in can be told their booked seat is not available and if doing so must offer overnight accommodation, a new fixed booking the following day and compensation equivalent up to the price of a first class ticket.

You have no proof the Captain ordered the man off the plane and it's more likely that it was booking staff who went through the unseemly act of asking for "volunteers" (since when did a volunteer get dragged off a plane?) accompanied by increasing offers of a higher compensation.

# I would question your claim the Captain of a flight while on ground has complete legal power- this sounds like an absolute nonsense..in the air maybe.
To accept that would mean a flight's Captain could order FBI agents, Homeland Security agents off a flight if he felt like it.

Nothing wipes out an individual's LAWFUL rights in the USA. nothing.

## the fact the man has or has not a criminal record (from a decade ago) is a moot point and should never have been raised and is meaningless in this case.

### And that is why United had a $billion wiped off their share price and why the doctor's lawyers have filed a court application to have all evidence immediately sealed (stuff like who actually gave permission for a passenger to be dragged out of his seat unlawfully) and why the hopeless CEO ( who should be booted at the next shareholder's election) who tried to damn the passenger as people on here seem to want to do, in a spectacular own goal and why he has now compensated everyone who was on that flight.

How much will the good doctor receive in compensation? It will never go to court but I reckon nothing under One Million Dollars.

## and shame on those who jumped to the defense of a corporation acting belligerently and unlawfully who also complain about how the power of the State has been use against hapless individuals in recent years.

When passengers are boarded, the Captain - and nobody else - carries enormous/ultimate power, in the interests of safety.

Google is your friend! He or she (responsible for 100's of lives) is the judge and jury. Often, as in this case, the power is abused.


Who do you think should be in charge - often, there is no time for a debate!?

I think the passenger's honesty, and therefore his criminal record, and his behaviour on the plane are relevant if he will now be suing for compensation having been warned by police that they would drag him out if he refused to leave his seat but nevertheless continuing to refuse to move, resisting strongly when they did apply force, thereby being yanked out and propelled against the armrest of the seat at the other side of the aisle and, his lawyer says, suffering concussion, a broken nose and missing teeth. A dramatic and disturbing outcome but one in which not just the police and the airline but also the passenger played a role.

It seems to me that the airline was entirely at liberty to remove passengers from one of its own flights in return for compensation in order to move staff to another location and prevent flight delays and bring in police to persuade an uncooperative passenger to leave. The question of how the police handled the situation seems separate as well as the question of whether the airline's decision to remove passengers was fair. Passengers like the three who did cooperate and leave the plane and presumably receive compensation would no doubt be at liberty to try to sue the airline if they thought they had been treated unfairly.

New video shows officer's argument with David Dao before he is dragged off flight (in which, while talking to someone on the phone, he seems to indicate that he already intends to sue by saying something about making a lawsuit against United Airlines)

PBS: How did United Airlines’ startling passenger confrontation happen?
https(colon)//www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=mIgaU9Rkm_s

so many mistakes here.

Even releasing the passenger's name which United (they admitted it) did is a violation of aviation law.

I should forward Spree's insinuation it was the Captain's doing to Mr Dao's lawyers who can add the Captain's name as a CO-defendant to their lawsuit. I wonder if United indemnify their employees against unlawful acts?

Some outrageous statements that basically say police can beat up a passenger and it's justified because their Victim may resist. Just because a person may act foolishly does not suspend their lawful rights.

Chicago Police Dept & United Airline's press release:

“The incident on United flight 3411 was not in accordance with our standard operating procedure and the actions of the aviation security officer are obviously not condoned by the Department,” a spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Aviation told TIME. “That officer (now all 3) has been placed on leave effective today pending a thorough review of the situation.”

Keep trying to pretend it's the victim's fault as you are adding an extra nought to the confidential settlement he will receive.

# The Governor of New Jersey has now suspended the practice of over-booking until it's reviewed.

By the time this is over and in the absolutely disastrous handling of the event it It will be Dr.Dao Airlines instead of United.

Hedda deliberately misses the point that - under international aviation law - the Captain is the legal holder/conduit of the relevant powers.

Obviously he will normally take instructions from his employer - the airline; but the power (say, to remove passengers or change destination) is vested in him/her.

Again I ask Hedda - what alternative authority might be appropriate/better than having the Captain as sole arbitrar?

It is worth noting that the Captain's authority is not absolute - as, for example, he/she needs the permission of others to take-off, land etc.

If a plane is hi-jacked on the ground you are claiming the captain has ultimate authority and can order the FBI, police to stay away and handle the matter himself.

There are numerous US laws that cover flying..Air Marshals to begin with who have total authority over a flight crew.

The law is far more complicated than that and this aspect is a ridiculous red-herring to the matter in hand- that of a passenger being brutalised and wrongfully removed under United's own rule (please read press release above), followed by a failed campaign of vilification that has backfired spectacularly.

Are you a United trolly dolly? Perhaps you work in their PR department (what PR department? ) Probably not a United Airline's shareholder who just watched his/her investment plummet.

a pointless argument. Stop it.

Of course hi-jacking on the ground changes everything - as does the presence of air-marshals (who are not on the vast majority of aircraft, including this one).

As do attacks on the aircraft, incendiary devices, suicide bombers etc. However - as you well know - I was referring to normal day to day commercial flights, like the subject one.

You will also note that I described the airline's actions as abysmal - and have no vested interest in that industry.


Stopped - I have...

Earth to Spree:

Angry United Airlines pilots union issue statement denying ALL responsibility for forcible removal of doctor last week and say Chicago cops are to blame


www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4411096...s-Dao-s-removal.html