News

Report: US Airways Tears A Man’s Xbox 360 Apart

12:00AM January 22, 2010 | Luke Plunkett

Consumerist reader Adam thought it was safe to take his Xbox 360 on a plane with him. He’d received assurances from US Airways that it was. Uh, no. It wasn’t.

Upon landing, Adam says he opened his luggage and found his Xbox 360 had been cracked open. He also found inside his luggage something he didn’t put in there: a small ziploc back. Full of “tiny metal components”. Components that used to be inside his Xbox 360, which was of course now completely busted.

Contacting US Airways for a “please explain”, Adam was told “tough luck”; seems security suspected something was up with the 360 (even though it must surely be a fairly common item), and security feels it has no need to explain itself.

Our advice? A DS can fit in your carry-on baggage…

US Airways Takes Parts Out Of Xbox To Make Flying Safer [Consumerist]


Comments

  • Gordon Mackenzie

    January 22, 2010 at 6:25 AM

    Ouch, that’s harsh. Customs must have been staffed with PS3 fanboys that day.

  • Tezz

    January 22, 2010 at 7:19 AM

    that is just unfair, id ask them to replace the xbox considering you contacted them first to make sure it was alright to bring it.

  • Kyall

    January 22, 2010 at 9:54 AM

    Hmm… So it could possibly be a security threat, I.e. a bomb. And the decided upon action is to smash it right apart? Wrong, that’s so very stupid. Or maybe US Airway’s security guys are immune to like… explosions and stuff.

    Really? Not even a sniffer dog?

  • Luke

    January 22, 2010 at 10:11 AM

    lol. It’s actually kind of funny. I can relate… kind off. When I moved interstate I put my 360 in my luggage(not carry on) and I was worried they were going to think it was a bomb.

  • Greg

    January 22, 2010 at 10:36 AM

    ummmm can anyone say lawsuit the guy definatly has a case if he can show he contacted themn first for the go ahead

  • Mario maniac

    January 22, 2010 at 11:07 AM

    Note to self: don’t take consoles on Europe trip. = /

  • Fracture

    January 22, 2010 at 11:18 AM

    wow that sucks so bad.

  • Marathon

    January 22, 2010 at 11:22 AM

    I’ve taken a X360 on an aircraft before. Carry on luggage in backpack of course. Quite surprised there wasn’t any issue. But it was domestic, I had a six month work stint in another capital city.

  • Ojin

    January 22, 2010 at 11:52 AM

    I feel for the guy, because man, that sucks… but… why on earth would you leave your console in your checked luggage? Baggage checkers and baggage handlers are not subtle people- they don’t have time to be. I’d be very unwilling to leave -anything- the least bit breakable in checked luggage, let along something like a games console.

    When I moved to Australia, I carried my 360 in my carry-on, at my feet. I might have worried about kicking it in flight, but I certainly wasn’t paranoid about it getting probed, tossed, crushed or lost. And it’s still working fine, so far… ;p

  • Ben Walters

    January 22, 2010 at 12:01 PM

    You think he’d have some sort of legal approach to take on this, even if they do suspect something is up with his luggage they are still accountable for it’s safety especially if that “hunch” turns out to be wrong. U.S. Airways time to cough up a new console!

  • Michael Barnes

    January 22, 2010 at 12:08 PM

    thats bs! they cant just break something of yours unless its an actual threat! get them to replace it!

  • Needs A New Username

    January 22, 2010 at 12:28 PM

    certainly he has grounds to sue.

    I’d threaten them saying buy me a new console or i’ll sue ya for over 9000 dollars

    • Nick Corcoran

      January 22, 2010 at 6:07 PM

      lol $9000, that’s not enough.
      they broke his xbox. he needs more than that for compensation.

      • Daniel

        January 24, 2010 at 1:00 AM

        I don’t think you got the joke mate… “over 9000″ is an old internet meme

  • Mr Waffle

    January 22, 2010 at 12:32 PM

    It’s amazing that commenters here don’t realise that airport security have the right do whatever they want (and that they see themselves as the only line of defence between pitiful mortals and evil terrorists constantly attacking our borders).

    When I came back from overseas a couple of years ago they grilled me for half an hour while going through my laptop and camera photos, trying to trick me to catch me in a web of lies (eg “who is this guy in the photo?” “a friend” “you said you went alone” “I did, he lives there” “but you travelled with him, you told me you travelled alone” “no…”)

  • Matt

    January 22, 2010 at 12:52 PM

    doesnt quite add up. why would they need to take it apart, when they have things like drug and bomb detection and xrays? and even then at what point would they have gone through it without your knowledge? plus i would think it would be difficult to open up a 360 and remove the parts, and whats the purpose of removing parts off the motherboard if they clearly didnt find anything.

  • Nick Corcoran

    January 22, 2010 at 6:04 PM

    did he get reinbursed the money?
    he then couldn’t get it fixed by microsoft either because the warranty would be void.

    THAT HAS GOTTO SUCK HARD

  • Nick Corcoran

    January 22, 2010 at 6:09 PM

    actually, i want to be an airport security officer now, i’m an xbox fan boy so everytime i saw a playstation i would tear it apart just for the fun of it.

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