New York: After several incidents of dragging and forcefully boarding off the human passengers, United Airline flight could not bear a small dog, as one of its attendants, forced the animal into an air-less overhead bin. The airline stated on Tuesday that it takes full responsibility for what had happened.
A woman along with her children and a small dog were travelling on United Flight 1284 from Houston to New York on Monday when the woman was forced by a flight attendant to put her dog in the overhead bin during the 3-1/2 hour flight. A co-passenger of the woman, Maggie Gremminger, in a series of tweets recalled the incident and criticized the flight attendant.
“At the end of the flight, the woman found her dog, deceased. She sat in the airplane aisle on the floor crying, and all of surrounding passengers were utterly stunned,” Gremminger wrote and shared a picture of the woman.
I want to help this woman and her daughter. They lost their dog because of an @united flight attendant. My heart is broken. pic.twitter.com/mjXYAhxsAq
— Maggie Gremminger (she/her) (@MaggieGrem) March 13, 2018
United called the incident “a tragic accident that should never have occurred, as pets should never be placed in the overhead bin.” Reuters quoted the airlines’ spokesperson Maggie Schmerin as saying, the incident was being investigated and the family had been refunded the cost of their tickets, including the $125 pet cabin fee.
United has had similar incidents of negligence towards animals in the past as well. The airlines was sued last year by the owners of a giant rabbit that died on one of its flights. In 2017, United had the highest number of animal deaths of all carriers in the US. 18 animals were killed and 13 were injured during their transport.