United Airlines: Passenger forcibly removed from flight

Videos showing a man being violently removed from a United Airlines flight have provoked an outcry on social media, BBC reports.

The footage taken inside the airliner shows a man being violently pulled out of his seat and dragged down the aisle as passengers prepared to take off from Chicago to Louisville on Sunday evening.

The airline in question - United - has tweeted an apology for what happened and says it is investigating.

One 50-second clip of the incident on Twitter was re-tweeted 16,000 times since it was posted that day.

Jayse D Anspach, who posted the footage, tweeted: "#United overbooked and wanted four of us to volunteer to give up our seats for personnel that needed to be at work the next day."

"No one volunteered, so United decided to choose for us. They chose an Asian doctor and his wife."

"The doctor needed to work at the hospital the next day, so he refused to volunteer," Mr Anspach added.

"Ten minutes later, the doctor runs back into the plane with a bloody face, clings to a post in the back, chanting, "I need to go home."