Dog Dies In Overhead Bin On A United Flight

A while ago, during a flight with United Airlines from Houston to New York, a passenger was urged by a flight attendant to put her pet carrier along with her pet into the the overhead bin. The dog was stored up there for over three hours. Several attempts of the owner asking the flight attendant to reconsider her decision were made, though unsuccessful to have her understand the circumstances of the situation.

Once the airplane landed, the dog was found dead. The involved flight attendant claims she did not know there was a live animal inside the carrier, and ‘thought it was a normal bag’. “We told her it was a dog”, says the seven-year old daughter of the dog owner, “she’s lying.” Additionally, other passengers have witnessed the incident as well, where one states to have seen the dog owner arguing with the flight attendant, saying her dog was in there and unwilling to follow the orders. Yet the flight attendant kept asking for the dog to be in the overhead bin ‘because it was a hazard where it was, it was a safety emergency, someone could trip’.

United’s position on this is as stated by United Airlines spokeswoman Maggie Schmerin: “This was a tragic accident that should never have occurred, as pets should never be placed in the overhead bin. We assume full responsibility for this tragedy and express our deepest condolences to the family and are committed to supporting them.” The airline has offered the owner of the dog compensation; the affected flight passengers, however, said that this incident was not about money.

It is outrageous the way people look upon animals. In this case the yet unidentified flight attendant treated the dog like an object, and did not handle the situation professionally at all. The least that could be done was allowing the passenger to have the dog sitting on the lap; but, the flight attendant insisted on storing the pet into the overhead bin. However, it also needs to be noted that this whole incident could have been totally avoided if the owner of the dog chose to leave the aircraft, instead of giving in to such ridiculous and terrible request because that ultimately makes her to be at fault too.   

Source: Fox News