The chief executive of United Airlines has described the passenger who was forcibly removed from an overbooked plane as “disruptive and belligerent”, and told the airline’s employees that they “followed established procedures”.

The airline has been vilified after aviation police officials violently removed a man from a plane at O’Hare international airport in Chicago on Sunday, in an incident captured on video by several passengers.

In one clip, posted by Audra Bridges to Facebook, guards could be seen aggressively grabbing then dragging the passenger down the aisle of the plane, which was bound for Louisville, Kentucky, as other passengers shouted, “Oh my God”, and, “Look what you did to him”.

In a letter to United Airlines staff, CEO Oscar Munoz said he was upset to see and hear about what happened but that he supported his employees.

“The situation was unfortunately compounded when one of the passengers we politely asked to deplane refused and it became necessary to contact Chicago aviation security officers to help,” Munoz wrote in the letter obtained by CNBC and other news outlets.(guardian)…[+]