words: Steve White photos: Willem Beck

Welsh shredder, Willem Beck, received an early Hallowe’en present this week when he discovered his entire quiver of surfboards had been destroyed on arrival at Stansted.

After completing a Ryanair flight from Biarritz, Willem’s luggage didn’t show up in arrivals. He went to the carrier’s information desk where he was told his boardbag had been run over by a staircase tractor.

“They brought out the remains of my boardbag. Not only had it been run over, the bag had been dragged underneath the vehicle across the tarmac. Everything in the bag was either ripped, flattened or covered in tar, so absolutely nothing was salvageable. All three surfboards were damaged beyond repair.”

“They sent me away with a link to make a claim, and I’ve heard nothing since,” Willem said.

Airlines’ seemingly adhoc handling of surfboards is a well-documented issue. Any surfer who’s travelled by air will be familiar with the anxiety that comes with waiting in arrivals for your boards to appear, hoping everything’s still in one piece.

US pro, Kirra Pinkerton was left with her boardbag ripped open and holes punched in her surfboards following a United Airlines flight a few years ago. More recently, UK surfer Charlotte W described on Tripadvisor how her surfboard had been “completely destroyed” after travelling on an EasyJet flight.

Willem’s is one of the most extreme incidents of airline damage to date. It will be interesting to find out how his claim is handled.