American Airlines loses dancer’s prosthetic leg

Among the nation’s biggest carriers, American Airlines has the worst record for losing and mishandling luggage.

In the first nine months of 2015, the Forth Worth-based carrier lost or mishandled 4.04 bags for every 1,000 passengers, compared with an average rate of 3.31 lost or mishandled bags for the country’s top 13 biggest airlines, according to the US Department of Transportation.

But when American Airlines lost the luggage of Adrianne Haslet-Davis, it became big news. Haslet-Davis is a dancer who lost a leg during the Boston Marathon bombing. The misplaced luggage contained a prosthetic leg and other parts she uses to dance, valued at $250,000 (Dh918,125). Haslet-Davis reported details of the mishap on Twitter. She didn’t give her travel itinerary but said the leg wouldn’t fit in her carry-on luggage.

When the bag was found last week, Haslet-Davis tweeted that her leg had taken an unexpected side trip: “My leg really [loves] to travel! Just found out she took detour to Puerto Rico.”