Surfboards Annihilated by Airport Truck in History’s Most Devastating Baggage Mishap

"The worst board destruction by baggage handlers and an airline ever? A three board quiver decimation!"

In what surfers are calling the “world’s worst surfboard destruction” ever captured on camera, and as reported by Wavelength magazine, a Ryanair baggage handler’s stair truck turned a Welsh surfer’s prized new shooters into flattened wreckage, rolling over the bag twice in a thrilling display of thoroughness.

Willem Beck, fresh from surfing those delightfully easy-to-surf, slow-moving waves on the Basque coast, watched in horror via security footage as the dang truck drove over his board bag on the tarmac at Biarritz Airport.

The truck, which is used to ferry stairs to the plane at those regional airports without gates that swing straight into the bird, crushed his three boards, wetsuits, fins, and gear, then reversed for a second devastating pass.

The bag got caught under the wheel, dragging across the asphalt like roadkill before the crew stopped.

“It was dragged across the tarmac for a while until they realised what they had done,” Beck said. “The boards were completely flattened. I also had wetsuits, clothes, fins, dry bags, board socks, you name it. Every single item was either ripped, flattened or covered in tarmac. I’ve submitted a damage report, let’s see what we get back.”

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A much simpler way of travelling, of course, is to leave the shooters and check-in baggage at home and see what you can find at your destination.

A recent trip to Bali was made even more heavenly than usual thank you to the White Monkey surfshop, whose choice of surfboards from Pyzel to Biolos, meant I was gifted Ferraris underfoot, and all for around twenty bucks a day.

No check-in baggage meant I was out the door while the rest of the flight stood around the edges of the carousel for an hour, anxiety spiking with every orbit and fresh dump of bags that didn’t include their own.

And dragging around those awful coffin things reeks of a no longer cool sport.

Do you still travel with surfboards?

Or do you prefer being a sleek and light and deeply sexy modern man?