DETROIT – A musician's worst nightmare came true at Detroit's Metro Airport.
Dave Schneider, lead singer of the band the Zambonis, cares so much about his classic 1965 Gibson ES-335 that he carries it on board.
But recently, while boarding a flight from Buffalo to Detroit, he was stopped and told he had to check the guitar. Schneider says he would buy the guitar its own seat — but Delta gate staff said no.
Schneider tells Yahoo News that "As his feet touched the ground in Detroit, Schneider said he already knew something had gone horribly wrong. Sure enough, he wrote on Facebook, a "musicians worst nightmare came true."
There at the gate was his guitar — stuck between the service elevator and a loading dock rail making "this crazy sound" of "metal on metal."
The damage to the $10,000 guitar was estimated at $1,980, but Delta offered him $1,000.
He declined and wrote directly to Delta chief executive Richard Anderson.
After Yahoo News contacted Delta, the company apologized and promised it "will be reaching out to the customer directly to discuss how we can make this right."