A man was arrested at the Santiago airport Tuesday after causing significant damage to the American Airlines check-in area. The individual, reportedly of Haitian descent, had purchased a ticket to Miami, only to discover upon arrival that the ticket was fraudulent.
Upon learning that he would not be able to travel, the man became enraged and retrieved a hammer from his backpack. Witnesses watched in shock as he proceeded to smash multiple computers and large check-in screens at the American Airlines counter.
Even in Chile. pic.twitter.com/yZfUsJlASw
— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) August 28, 2024
Local police estimate he caused approximately 20 million Chilean pesos (US$22,000) in damages during the incident. The Western Santiago Prefecture Police confirmed that they had detained the man. It turns out he had the hammer because e is a construction worker and had come to the airport straight from a job.
American Airlines acknowledged the incident, offering:
We thank our team for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.
Despite the location, seeing the yellow branding, I still feel like it’s worth pointing out that this isn’t a Spirit Airlines passenger. And noting that the man bought a fraudulent ticket – someone took his money and told him they’d booked him a ticket – it seems worth flagging that it’s a better idea to book direct. And if you do get scammed, it’s the fault of the person who scammed you, not the check-in computers.
“The Western Santiago Prefecture Police confirmed that they had detained the man. It turns out he had the hammer because e is a construction worker and had come to the airport straight from a job.”
I rather doubt this story. In any case, I’m glad he didn’t make it to Miami, and hope he never does.
Surprised you didn’t point out that Chile has a leftist president, therefore this kind of behavior is what they want and voted for.
“…if you do get scammed, it’s the fault of the person who scammed you, not the check-in computers.”
That’s your opinion.
To avoid being scammed when buying an American Airlines ticket for travel to Miami, passengers should anticipate paying more than $10 (9174 Chilean pesos) for a flight from any foreign country to Miami.
You would think the hammer would have been confiscated at security.
Check in counters are normally located before security.
Why does it matter that the person is of Haitian decent?
@Uncle Jeff
He wouldn’t be wrong if he said so.
I wonder if the story is the whole story or if it is even correct. Was this the return on a return ticket? The story in Spanish is somewhat different than the story by the NY Post.
We were last at this airport, SCL, June 29 of this year. Yes, the yellow and black might look like Spirit Airlines, but many airports use yellow and black, like AMS. Some airports have an initial security check just to enter the airport (ADD) and that might keep some hammers out.
I often fly to Santiago, Dominican Republic (STI) so would appreciate better clarification when mentioning names of airports.
Today I learned I am a Chilean billionaire.
I’d be pissed too. But at least he did not lose the hammer at the WTMD screening.
likely the fake ticket was “cheaper” – of course there was no ticket – if it sounds too good to be true it often is
now the person is in jail, out of the money and likely will have to pay the damage (yes likely he has no money) but the lack of restitution likely extends the sentence.
I would not be surprised if he is there ilegally too and now may be deported
This article mentions, “Local police estimate he caused approximately 20 million Chilean pesos (US$22,000) in damages during the incident.” I assume his means equipment damages and not other damages. Such as:
1) If flights had to be cancelled, AA had their operations significantly disrupted. That cost could be several hundred thousand dollars.
2) If people were not able to get back to work, they had missed wages.
Another news article says this, “Social media is tearing this guy up but as one person commented, “He got scammed and reacted terribly but the lack of empathy for the man is crazy. You have no idea why he was going where he was. What if he was flying to his mother’s funeral and couldn’t afford another flight? Instead of judging learn to empathize.”
This has caused a false video going around saying he did this because he was distraught about not seeing his dying mother. I have yet to find anything which states why he was flying. Only that he was flying to Florida.
Here are some other considerations:
1) If he caused flights to be cancelled, did he cause somebody miss out on going to a loved one’s funeral?
2) If he caused flights to be cancelled, did he cause a father to not be able to give his daughter’s hand away in marriage?
3) If he caused flights to be cancelled, did he cause parents to miss their son or daughter to walk across the stage for College Graduation?