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In a video that’s going viral, a woman is seen being dragged off of a Southwest Airlines flight after she alerted the flight crew to her pet allergy.
Southwest Airlines is apologizing for this incident where two law enforcement officers manhandled a passenger while trying to remove her from the flight.
The incident began over allergies. Anila Daulatzai, a former Harvard professor, requested an EpiPen after learning there were two dogs — a pet and a service animal — onboard the Baltimore-to-LA flight.
“According to Southwest, the incident took place after the passenger alerted the crew that she had what they described as a “life-threatening pet allergy.” The airline told Business Insider that for the passenger to continue on the flight, she needed to present a medical certificate.”
The problem was that Anila didn’t have that certificate. Southwest’s policy states they may deny boarding to a customer who reports an allergy but has no medical certificate with them.
In this instance, Southwest decided to ask the person with the allergy to rebook their flight instead of the two customers with animals.
But, an argument ensued… “They spent a long time talking to the woman, explaining to her what the situation was, trying to work with her,” Bill Dumas, who shot the video, told CBS. “The pilot said they wouldn’t leave until it got resolved. If you look at the police, they were being overly aggressive. Really, she wasn’t giving them much of a choice, and the people on the plane were saying, ‘just get off the plane.’”
Tell us what you think. Were the cops too aggressive? Should pets take priority over paying customers? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter at @WhatsTrending.
