You think losing your suitcase full of new vacation clothes was bad? This week, Cathay Pacific airline lost a bag filled with $660,000 in cash at Hong Kong International airport.
Why was anyone traveling with that much money? Hold that thought for a second. First, let’s talk about how it happened.
As we all know too well, it’s pretty easy for airlines to lose luggage — about 26 million suitcases go missing each year.
But this loss was above and beyond the usual slapstick carelessness, almost like something out of a sit-com. According to Shanghaiist, the bag was one of 12 carrying a total of $10 million (New Zealand dollars) on their way from New Zealand to Hong Kong, destined for deposit at the Bank of China.
The flight arrived at 9:10 p.m., and thanks to surveillance cameras, authorities know that bags made their way to a cargo transfer service provided by a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific. The bags were put onto a trailer, but then the truck turned a corner — and three bags fell out. Pesky corners.
Ten minutes later, the driver arrived at the station, realized three bags of money were missing and, we imagine, promptly freaked out. Fortunately, two sacks were found on the tarmac, but the third one is still MIA.
Cathay Pacific has not returned Yahoo Travel’s request for comment. According to reports, police are still investigating the disappearance and are listing it as a theft.
If this had happened in the States, we would’ve suggested they make a trip to the Unclaimed Baggage Center, a store in Scottsboro, Alabama that purchases lost items from various US-based airlines after the airlines’ own search-and-return operations have failed. In this case, though, our advice to the cops is: Look for the only person in the airport who’s smiling.
