United Airlines forcibly removes passenger from flight after overbooking

US carrier United Airlines has faced criticism after a passenger was filmed being unwillingly ejected from from a flight before take-off due to overbooking.

Just before departure of the flight from Chicago O'Hare International Airport, several passengers recorded the man being aggressively dragged from the plan by airport police.

United offered several passengers a cash compensation to change their flights after it miscalculated the amount of available seats on the plane, having to accommodate four of its employees on the aircraft.

One video posted by passenger Audra Bridges was uploaded to social media site Facebook and got more than 14.0m views on the site.

In a statement released by United in response to the uproar, the company said that it had asked passengers to give up their seats voluntarily but none agreed to do so, forcing them to select from among the travellers themselves.

"This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United," CEO Oscar Muñoz said in the statement. "I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened."

"We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation," he added.

Further videos posted online appear to show the man returning to the plane after the ordeal, but in a disoriented state.

The Chicago Police Department confirmed that their aviation branch had been asked to address the incident.

"The passenger in question began yelling to voice his displeasure at which point Aviation Police were summoned," police said in the statement.