United Airlines is making headlines once again, and once again it is not in a good way. Little under a year ago, in 2017, the airline made headlines when they very forcibly removed a doctor from a United Airlines Flight from Chicago to Louisville after the airline overbooked. The video of the incident went on to be viral, creating a media frenzy. United has been walking on thin ice since.
And now, it seems that, that thin ice has cracked wide open.
Via a flight from Houston to New York, Catalina Castano (Mother) told Buzzfeed News was flying with her 2 children (11 year old daughter, and 2 month old son) after visiting her husband. The adorable 10 month old bulldog, Kokito, was securely fastened in his TSA approved kennel under the seat, when a flight attendant told Castano, needed to be stored in the overheard bin. The puppy had tragially died due to suffocation by the time the plane landed in LaGuardia, according to the Boston Globe.
Brayan Castano (husband) stated "My wife repeatedly asked her to let her keep the dog by her feet, ... She then asked her if the dog would be OK. The flight attendant wouldn't let her keep Kokito by her feet and assured her that he would be fine. Witnesses can attest to that."
And thankfully, witnesses have...
Fellow witness and passenger to the incident Maggie Gremminger took to social media to report the incident and state the facts.
Gremminger claimed that the attendant had pushed the woman to place the dog in the overhead storage area, against the woman's wishes , that originally wanted to place the dog under her seat.
Sadly, another passenger, June Lara, also stated on Facebook that many suspected the worse when there was no sound as the plane landed. Via Distractify; "There was no sound as we landed and opened his kennel. There was no movement as his family called his name. I held her baby as the mother attempted to resuscitate their 10 month old puppy.{...} I assumed there must be ventilation [in the overhead bin] as surely the flight attendant wouldn't have instructed this otherwise. I heard the dog barking a little and we didn't know it was a cry for help."
In a statement, a United Airlines spokesperson confirmed the incident and said that the company is taking full responsibility. "We assume full responsibility for this tragedy and express our deepest condolences to the family and are committed to supporting them," United said. "We are thoroughly investigating what occurred to prevent this from ever happening again."
But is that enough? The answer for us... is NO! And many people on twitter agree.
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