Southwest Airlines apologized Wednesday after a video emerged of a female passenger being dragged off one of their planes.
The man who filmed the video, Bill Dumas, told NBC News that the woman requested two dogs be removed from the flight because of her “deadly allergy.” Crew members reportedly told her they couldn’t remove the animals and she then requested an injection to treat her symptoms.
{mosads}Crew told her they couldn’t give her the injection unless she had a certificate, which she did not have. The pilot offered to let her get off the plane to receive the shot, but she reportedly refused.
Transportation Authority officers approached the woman and began to remove her from the plane. She accused them of ripping her pants at one point, before one officer grabbed her and began to drag her off.
“I will walk off, don’t touch me,” she yelled.
Other passengers started yelling “she’s walking” with one saying, “show them you’re walking.”
“Then walk!” one officer yelled.
“I’m a professor, what are you doing?” she said at one point.
A Southwest Airlines spokesman told NBC News 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.”
This is latest incident of a passenger being forcibly removed from a plane after United Airlines came under heavy fire earlier this year when a video of officers forcibly dragging a passenger off a plane went viral.