Musician traveling to Missouri refuses to check her 17th-century violin. A 'wrestling match' ensued.

[TexasTowelie]

For the small fraternity of people who make their living coaxing musical notes out of vulnerable pieces of wood and metal, few things are more terrifying than seeing an expensive, defenseless instrument disappear on that little conveyor belt at the airport.

Horror stories abound. A musician checked his $45,000, 75-year-old cello, which airport workers promptly placed beneath somebody's golf clubs, snapping its neck. A noted German soloist said airport workers roughed up his cello case. After his flight, he found his $20,000 bow broken in half. A Florida State University music student on a flight to Tallahassee found splinters of wood where her cello used to be.

Those stories and many, many more have converged into an unwritten musician's rule: Never trust an airline with your instrument.

So when a Houston-based gate agent at United Airlines told Yennifer Correia that she would have to check her 17th-century violin, which costs more than her car, the first words out of her mouth were: "What are my other options?"

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/business/musician-traveling-to-missouri-refuses-to-check-her-th-century/article_d8cd58cf-7e20-5a17-a287-8f3bff3942f7.html