City of Chicago’s Office of Inspector General ruled that Aviation Security Officers “escalated a non-threatening situation into a physically violent one by forcefully removing a passenger from the aircraft.”

Two officers involved in the forcible removal of a passenger from a United Airlines flight in Chicago last April have been fired, and a third has resigned after disciplinary measures were imposed, according to a report from the City of Chicago’s Office of Inspector General (OIG).

Kentucky physician David Dao, 69, was dragged off United flight 3411 at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on April 9 after refusing to give up his seat on the plane. He sustained a concussion, a broken nose and had two teeth knocked out.

The incident drew intense scrutiny after several passengers on the United flight videotaped a screaming, frantic Dao being grabbed by four security officers and dragged through the aisle. Dao later sued United and settled out of court.

The Inspector General ruled that Aviation Security Officers “escalated a non-threatening situation into a physically violent one by forcefully removing a passenger from the aircraft.”

The report also found ASOs and a sergeant made misleading statements and “false or inaccurate reporting” of the incident to their superiors.

“The second ASO made misleading statements in two reports and the third ASO made material omissions in a report, regarding the first ASO’s forceful removal of the passenger from the aircraft,” the OIG found.

The report said the sergeant removed material facts from the third ASO’s report and “approved reports without all essential information.”

The Inspector General recommended that the Department of Aviation discipline the first ASO officer and the sergeant, “up to and including discharge” and impose lesser discipline on the other two officers. A third ASO was suspended for five days, and served a two-day suspension after a grievance process.

The OIG report noted “significant confusion within the aviation department’s Public Safety and Security, Security Operations Division regarding the roles and expectations of ASOs.” It urged the aviation department to address the issue in its training and other ways, to assure that all airport security personnel “have a clear and consistent understanding of their roles and responsibilities.”

Those responsibilities, the Inspector General said, involve “providing security services for airport staff and passenger safety, not police services.”

The aviation department is currently reviewing its policies and procedures regarding such enforcement incidents. That review is expected to be completed by early 2018.

The Associated Press on Oct. 17 reported that Dao’s attorney, Thomas Demetrio hoped the firings had an impact on security officer’s conduct, saying, “In firing him, perhaps it will send a clear message to police and airline personnel all over the world that unnecessary violence is not the way to handle passenger matters.”

—- Chicago fires two officers who dragged man off United flight —