A disturbing incident aboard a Southwest Airlines flight in Baltimore Tuesday night was reminiscent of David Dao's highly publicized removal from a United Airlines flight earlier this year.
According to NBC News, Southwest Airlines apologized to a woman who was forced off a Los Angeles-bound flight by Maryland Transportation Authority police at Baltimore-Washington International Airport after she told the flight crew she had a life-threatening dog allergy.
One pet and one service animal were onboard the flight and the woman, who wasn't identified, failed to produce the necessary medical certificate.
Passenger Bill Dumas, who captured some of the dramatic incident on video, said the pilot offered to let the woman exit the plane to receive an injection before ultimately alerting police.
Recorded after officers boarded the aircraft, the video shows police pushing and pulling the woman down the aisle as other passengers tell her to cooperate and file a complaint once she's exited the plane.
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Southwest defended itself in a statement, citing airline policy for the woman's removal.
"Our policy states that a customer (without a medical certificate) may be denied boarding if they report a life-threatening allergic reaction and cannot travel safely with an animal on board. Our flight crew made repeated attempts to explain the situation to the customer, however, she refused to deplane and law enforcement became involved," a Southwest Airlines spokesman said in a statement.
The woman was eventually arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, failure to obey a reasonable and lawful order, disturbing the peace, obstructing and hindering a police officer and resisting arrest.
She has since been released on her own recognizance.
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Southwest said it regrets the incident and will be reaching out to the woman directly to work through the situation.
"We are disheartened by the way this situation unfolded and the customer's removal by local law enforcement officers," Southwest Airlines added in a statement. "We publicly offer our apologies to this customer for her experience and we will be contacting her directly to address her concerns."
The incident delayed Tuesday's flight by approximately 35 minutes, according to The Baltimore Sun.
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