by Donald Wood
Last updated: 3:15 PM ET, Wed October 18, 2017
The Chicago Department of Aviation announced it has fired two officers and suspended two others in connection with the forced removal and dragging of a United Airlines passenger in April.
According to Fox6News.com, the United flight was preparing to take off from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago for Louisville International Airport in Kentucky when one of the passengers, Dr. David Dao, refused to give up his seat for traveling crew members.
Other passengers used their cell phones to record security officers forcibly removing Dao from his seat and dragging him down the aisle of the plane. As a result of the incident, Dao suffered a concussion, broken nose and the loss of two teeth.
Dao sued United and settled with the airline out of court.
The official investigation of the incident was conducted by Chicago's Office of Inspector General and the findings were revealed Tuesday. They claim three aviation security officers and one security sergeant mishandled the situation and provided misleading statements.
One of the officers and the sergeant were fired and the other two officers were suspended for an undisclosed amount of time. The Aviation Department also said it is conducting a full review of its policies and procedures, which would be finished by the first quarter of next year.
As a result of the dragging incident, the aviation department decided in July that it would call on the Chicago Police Department to handle disturbance calls at the airport. The security team will now monitor access to restricted areas of the airport, handle traffic control and support Chicago police and the Fire Department.
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