A woman was pulled off of a flight from Baltimore to LA on Tuesday night after she told the crew she had a life-threatening allergy to dogs and demanded they be removed from the plane.
Airline officials told Fox News that an emotional support dog and a pet were on board the flight. The woman told officials she had to stay on the flight because her father was having surgery and asked that the animals be taken off. According to airline officials, she was not able to show any documented proof of her allergy.
The woman requested an allergy shot but was told she would have to get off the plane for medical staff to administer the shot, reports ABC 7. She then became very upset.
At some point, airport police and Southwest officials decided it was best to physically remove the woman from the plane.
“If you look at the police, they were being overly aggressive,” Passenger Bill Dumas explained to CBS News. “Really, she wasn’t giving them much of a choice, and the people on the plane were saying, ‘just get off the plane,’” he said, adding that the woman repeatedly told officials that she had to get to get to her father’s surgery
Southwest Airlines released the following statement regarding the incident:
We are disheartened by the way this situation unfolded and the Customer’s removal by local law enforcement officers. We publicly offer our apologies to this Customer for her experience and we will be contacting her directly to address her concerns. Southwest Airlines was built on Customer Service, and it is always our goal for all Customers to have a positive experience.
Initial reports indicate the Customer in the video stated that she had a life-threatening pet allergy, but she was unable to provide the medical certificate necessary to complete travel. There was one emotional support animal and one pet onboard the aircraft. 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 onboard. Our Flight Crew made repeated attempts to explain the situation to the Customer, however, she refused to deplane and law enforcement became involved.
