Officer involved in notorious passenger dragging incident sues United
An aviation security officer involved in the infamous passenger dragging incident of last year blames his subsequent firing on United Airlines.
He has now filed a lawsuit against United Airlines, saying airline employees knew calling aviation police would likely lead to the use of physical force.
Chicago Department of Aviation officer James Long also sued his former employer and said Chicago Aviation commissioner Ginger Evans slandered him by saying DCA officers were not armed ‘for good reasons.’
"These false statements imply that Long was not acting in his capacity as a police officer," the suit alleged.
Long claims he wasn’t properly trained to deal with passengers behaving badly during an ‘escalating’ situation.
Long was one of the officers called to the United flight at Chicago when David Dao, 69, refused to be bumped from the flight.
Video footage showed Dao been dragged violently from the plane, causing an outcry.
Long was first suspended and then fired several months later.
Long is suing for back pay since his termination and ‘compensatory damages.’
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
Have your say Cancel reply
Subscribe/Login to Travel Mole Newsletter
Travel Mole Newsletter is a subscriber only travel trade news publication. If you are receiving this message, simply enter your email address to sign in or register if you are not. In order to display the B2B travel content that meets your business needs, we need to know who are and what are your business needs. ITR is free to our subscribers.

































France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt