Naxto Gonzalez spends much of his time throwing himself over the ledge into some of the world’s heaviest waves.

We can assume his big wave endeavours put pay to a high number of sticks, but earlier this week, on his way to Chile, three of his quiver ended up in pieces before they even got wet. Naxto was travelling with Iberia Airlines, flying from his home in the Basque country to Santiago to compete in a comp at Punta De Lobos.

“Yesterday I bought my ticket to Chile to catch one of the largest swells in years and despite paying for my boards, this is how I found them at my final destination … thanks Iberia” said the Basque charger on a post on instagram yesterday, with friends and fans around the world rushing to offer their sympathies and smash the airline, who are yet to comment on the incident.

“10’4, 9’6 and 7,4. @iberia Have you thrown them from a seventh floor? Not easy to break this kind of boards….” he added in a later post.

Photo Naxto Gonzalez/ Instagram

American Airlines sparked similar controversy earlier this year when they broke five of Alex Gray’s board in transit, however they were quick to apologise publicly and reimburse him both the baggage handling fee’s and the cost of the boards. Let’s hope Iberia have the foresight to follow suit and Naxto’s stripy big wave quiver is re-stocked and ready for his next mission soon.