‘Was there a bear in the cargo hold?’: Woman’s bag ripped to shreds after Delta flight

‘How did this even happen?’ asks frustrated traveller

The bag had holes torn in the side (Twitter/@moosechildd)

A woman was shocked when her luggage was allegedly returned to her ripped to shreds following a Delta flight.

Photographer Emilie Hofferber shared pictures of the bags on social media, which show the case with huge holes torn in the side, plus one of the wheels completely broken off.

“What the f*** , Delta?” she captioned the photos on Twitter, adding in a later tweet, “How did this even happen?”

She claimed Delta had offered to compensate her, but via a cheque sent in the mail.

“10-14 days to receive a reimbursement cheque by mail? In 2022 we’re mailing cheques because that’s the most effective way to transfer funds…” she tweeted.

The flight and luggage costs hadn’t come cheap, either, according to Ms Hofferber; she said she had paid $600 for the ticket, $170 to check her bags, and an additional $100 “dog fee”.

Her followers were stunned by the pictures, with one commenting, “Was there a bear in the cargo hold?”, while another said: “Luggage handled by a comically drunk Edward Scissorhands”.

Delta apologised for the incident and said it has been in contact with Ms Hofferber.

“Delta sincerely apologises to this customer for the damage to her luggage and its contents,” the airline said in a statement shared with 9Honey.

“Delta teams have been in contact with the customer to offer compensation for this rare occurrence.”

It’s the second time this week that a comically damaged bag has hit headlines.

An Etihad passenger complained about the state of her husband’s luggage after a flight with the Abu Dhabi-based airline, saying his shredded clothes made him “look like a pirate”.

Karen Nowland posted photos of her husband’s threadbare attire and a blue canvas holdall from The North Face, which she says had arrived damaged after an Etihad flight from Manchester to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

“Hey @etihad Look what happened to my husband’s bag somewhere between Manchester and Colombo!” she wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

“My husband looks like a pirate. Not the tropical holiday look he had in mind.”

The photos show a pile of shredded men’s clothing, along with her husband dressed up in some of them: a stringy portion of blue T-shirt, an almost backless striped T-shirt and khaki shorts with the hems damaged and hanging with thread.