There seems to no end to the atrocities that occur on board United Airlines. The U.S.-based airline earned the title of the world's worst airline after last years shocking incident where a passenger?was dragged out of an overbooked flight.?
In the most recent gut-wrenching incident, a? dog died after a United flight attendant forced a passenger to put the puppy in its carrier into an overhead bin.?
After the tragic incident, another passenger uploaded the?picture of the desperate owner writing, "I want to help this woman and her daughter. They lost their dog because of a United flight attendant. My heart is broken."
"I sat behind the family of three and thought myself lucky ¨C who doesn¡¯t when they get to sit near a puppy? However, the flight attendants of flight UA1284 felt that the innocent animal was better off crammed inside the overhead container without air and water.
They INSISTED that the puppy be locked up for three hours without any kind of airflow. They assured the safety of the family¡¯s pet so wearily, the mother agreed."'
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According to AP report, the dog was in a small pet carrier designed to fit under an airline seat. Passengers reported that they heard barking during the flight and didn¡¯t know that the dog had died until the plane landed at LaGuardia Airport.
According to the United Airlines website, the policy for on-board pets is that the pet ¡®must be carried in an approved hard-sided or soft-sided kennel¡¯.
However, there is no?mention of putting them on an overhead bin.?
United, on the other hand, seems to be very good at issuing apologies by now. It released a statement taking full responsibility and says it¡¯s looking into the incident:
"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. We are thoroughly investigating what occurred to prevent this from ever happening again."
United has suffered a string of incidents that generated bad publicity. In another incident, a giant rabbit died while being transported on one of its planes. The rabbit's owners sued the airline, which they said cremated the animal to destroy evidence of the cause of death.
We understand that there are rules for a reason - for our safety and convenience. But it's important that people on duty know all the rules properly and are able to deal with an unusual?situation, if it arises. Thrusting rules upon someone blindly can lead to blunders. We hope the family is blessed with the strength to cope with their loss.
Inputs from AP