The manhandling of a 69-year-old doctor on a United flight who was left begging for death has really tickled Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly.

Reporting the news on his show The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly showed footage of the incident before chuckling heartily.

Catching himself, he tells viewers: "I shouldn't be laughing, but it's just so bizarre."

United asked passengers on an overbooked flight to voluntarily give up their seats. The man in question, David Dao, declined, explaining that he is a doctor and had patients to see the next morning at his destination, but was forcibly removed from the flight, suffering facial injuries in the process.

Hugging the curtain divider on the plane, the scared man was filmed saying: "Just kill me. Just kill me. Kill me. Just kill me. Just kill me. Just kill me. Just kill me. Just kill me."

After the videos went viral, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz responded: "This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologise for having to re-accomodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the 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."

O'Reilly was probably just pleased to be focusing on a different PR disaster, with advertisers currently fleeing The O'Reilly Factor amid allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him.