The situation involving a passenger being dragged off a United Airlines flight in an effort to open up seats for non-ticketed airline personnel is a local matter and does not warrant a federal response, the White House said Tuesday.
Press secretary Sean Spicer was asked about the Sunday night incident in which a doctor, later identified as David Dao, was dragged by his arms off an airplane at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport after he refused to give up his seat.
"There is plenty of law enforcement to review a situation like that. I know United Airlines has stated that they are currently reviewing their own policies," Spicer said. "Let's not get ahead of where that review goes."
Spicer went on to call the situation "an unfortunate incident" and "troubling," adding that it's a "local matter not necessarily needing a federal response."
David Dao refused to leave his seat when asked, even when law enforcement officers were called to the scene. He was then ripped out of his seat, after which he hit his face on an armrest and taken off the plane.
Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat from Washington, D.C., demanded that lawmakers on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hold hearings on the matter.
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