Dornan Backed by Witnesses to Airline Fracas

When Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) was thrown off a United Airlines flight in April, passengers booed him and critics piled on, suggesting he was to blame for a fracas with a flight attendant.

But now, a few passengers who were seated near Dornan when the incident took place have come to his aid, supporting his version of the story and pointing fingers at the airplane’s crew.

“I would like to express my shock and dismay at the treatment Congressman Robert K. Dornan received from United Airlines staff,” passenger David T. Brewster of Williamsburg, Va., wrote in a letter to the Los Angeles Times. “It was my firsthand impression that Congressman Dornan acted properly and in a civil manner.”

Brewster and another passenger, Kelly Karpp of Glennie, Mich., each say they witnessed the dispute on the plane, and each says the congressman was not to blame.

“This man was just put in a pretty rough situation,” Karpp said in an interview Friday. “I don’t care if he’s a congressman or not, he was dealt a bad deal.”

The confrontation, which pitted the outspoken Dornan against a still-unidentified United Airlines flight attendant, came after the congressman, then recovering from a hip-replacement operation, balked at raising his seat to the full, upright position that FAA regulations require. Dornan was seated in the coach section of the plane, and was going to fly from Los Angeles to Washington by way of Chicago.

He was not to make it on that flight. Dornan was ejected from the plane, unceremoniously dumped at his gate. And many of the passengers--their flight delayed by the argument and return to the gate--booed Dornan as he was sent packing.

Stories about the incident--dubbed the “Trip from Hell” by the Washington Post--prompted a wave of letters, many of them criticizing Dornan.

United Airlines officials have declined comment, and media relations manager Sara Dornacker said Friday: “We are still maintaining our position that we will not comment on this matter.”

Dornan, however, is better known for wagging his tongue than for holding it, and this proved no exception. He blasted the flight crew, complained vigorously of being mistreated and was overjoyed to have passengers come forward and support his version of the story.

“I felt like a piece of dirt in the gutter,” Dornan said in an interview from his home. “Now these guys are coming through for me like the cavalry.”

In their accounts, Karpp and Brewster said Dornan was the victim of a surly, uncooperative flight attendant who would not accommodate the congressman’s discomfort even after other members of the flight crew had told him there would be no problem.

“His actions were calm and civil as he attempted to make arrangements to keep his seat partially reclined,” wrote Brewster, who said he was sitting just a few rows behind Dornan. “Congressman Dornan at no time used vulgar language. The head stewardess on the flight, however, was rude and disrespectful as she berated the congressman for no apparent reason.”

After being told he would be removed from the plane for failing to raise his seat, Dornan suggested that the flight attendant “would benefit from ‘charm school,’ ” Brewster wrote.

Karpp, who was sitting next to Dornan, did not relate the “charm school” comment, but in other respects, his version of events closely paralleled Brewster’s.

“In his conversations with all three stewardesses, Mr. Dornan was not belligerent or forceful in any way,” Karpp said.

Karpp and Brewster also said the flight attendant passed out pens and paper to passengers, requesting that they sign written statements about the scuffle.

For Dornan’s part, he said he hopes to meet with top officials at United Airlines and urge them to make better efforts to accommodate handicapped passengers. And he roundly praised the passengers who spoke up on his behalf.

“This thing got completely out of control,” Dornan said. “But I sure am glad these people wrote in with what they saw. They couldn’t have come at a better time.”