Scorpion stings United passenger on flight from Houston
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- It's another potential public relations nightmare for United Airlines. Just days after a man was dragged off a flight, a passenger from Houston to Canada was stung by a scorpion that allegedly fell from the overhead.
The incident happened last week. Richard Bell said not long after the plane had taken off from Bush Intercontinental Airport, he felt something fall from above his head. He grabbed it and quickly realized it was a scorpion. He said it was an inch and a half long and not happy.
"We were on the plane about an hour having dinner and then something fell on my head, so I grabbed it, and I was hanging on to it. And then I realized what it was. My neighbor was a gentleman from Mexico and he said, 'That's a scorpion.' They are dangerous, so I dropped it on my tray and went to grab it again and that's when I got stung," Bell said.
Bell said his fingernail took most of the sting, but United contacted medical staff on the ground and treated the injury. Bell's fellow passenger stomped on the scorpion and it was flushed down the toilet.
This comes on the heels of the Louisville doctor who was dragged from a United flight in Chicago.
VIDEO: Man's lip busted while dragged off overbooked United flight
It attracted international attention earlier this week when crew members called law enforcement to remove a ticketed passenger from the aircraft to make room for United employees.
Jarring video emerged on social media the next day showing officers forcibly removing Dr. David Dao, 69 from the plane, leaving him bloodied as nearby passengers looked on in horror.
Dao's attorney and daughter held a press conference Thursday saying that Dao had suffered a "significant concussion" in the altercation. He was released from the hospital Wednesday night, but remains shaken.
RELATED: Family and attorneys of doctor dragged off United flight 3411 speak
In an exclusive interview on "Good Morning America," United CEO Oscar Muñoz issued a public apology and pledged to make the situation right.
"That is not who our family at United is. And you saw us at a bad moment. And this can never, will never, happen again on a United Airlines flight," Muñoz said.
SEE ALSO: United CEO Oscar Munoz talks about passenger removal controversy
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