Doc dragged off United flight in 2017 says he cried when he first saw video

The Kentucky doctor who became a poster boy for airline policies gone awry when video captured him being bloodied and dragged off a United flight says he “cried’’ when he saw the footage.

David Dao, speaking in his first extensive interview since the 2017 debacle, said airline workers should have simply explained — “nicely” and “reasonably’’ — why he had to be bumped.

“That makes a difference,” Dao, 71, who is now retired, told ABC TV’s “Good Morning America’’ on Tuesday, two years to the day of the infamous incident.

Viral video taken by other passengers aboard the Chicago flight bound for Louisville, Ky., showed the former lung doctor with a blood-streaked face and broken glasses as he was dragged off the plane by Chicago Aviation Police officers for refusing to give up his seat for two airline workers who needed to fly.

The havoc sparked outrage, a grilling of airline honchos by congressional members and eventually a change in United policy, which now bars the removal of boarded passengers unless there are safety or security reasons.

“The most important thing is the accident turned out the positive way,” said Dao, who received a settlement from the airline.

He said he doesn’t remember much about the incident, although his recovery — from what his lawyers said were a broken nose, concussion and two lost teeth — was “horrible.”

When the doctor first saw video of the aisle brawl, “I just cried,’’ he told ABC.

He said he still has trouble sleeping and struggles with balance and concentration.

United, in a statement to ABC, said, “As our CEO Oscar Munoz has said, we at United never want anyone in the United family to forget the experience of Flight 3411. It makes us a better airline, a more caring company and a stronger team.”