The Department of Aviation in Chicago reportedly fired two officers who participated in the public dragging of David Dao, the 69-year-old doctor who was forcefully booted off a United Airlines flight in April.
The city’s Office of Inspector General conducted an official probe following the incident and found one aviation security sergeant and three aviation security officers “mishandled” the situation, according to the Chicago Tribune. Some employees also provided misleading testimony by having “deliberately removed material facts from their reports.”
Inspector General Joe Ferguson included the disciplinary action recommendation in his quarterly report released Tuesday, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
Recommendations from the inspector general included firing the officer who “improperly escalated the incident,” reports the local newspaper. The other dismissal was for the sergeant who altered, omitted or deleted important facts from the report. The aviation department suspended the other two officials.
A passenger captured Dao’s removal in a video that spread rapidly throughout the internet in April.
WATCH:
Dao needed to leave the plane because an airline employee needed the seat, United Airlines officials said. After he refused, security officials wrestled with the doctor from Kentucky and dragged him through the aisles. He was left with a concussion, broken nose, and two missing front teeth, according to his lawyer Thomas Demetrio. (RELATED: Mother ‘Livid’: Watch This TSA Agent Thoroughly Pat Down A Child [VIDEO])
A spokesman for United Airlines later told The Daily Caller the flight was not overbooked, contradicting previous reports.
The airliner is conducting a review of policies and procedures in an attempt to ensure such an event doesn’t happen again.
The Department of Transportation ruled in September that United Airlines would not face fines over the ordeal. (RELATED: Officials Boot Parents Off Delta Flight, Threaten To Put Infants In Foster Care [VIDEO])
The firings are not a reason to celebrate, Demetrio said.
“Do not state something that is clearly contrary to video viewed by the world,” Demetrio said, according to the Chicago Tribune. “Passengers should always maintain the right to videotape mistreatment of all kinds. Our cell phones are the best deterrent to ensure mistreatment becomes a rarity.”
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