A closer look
Denver International Airport attempted to build the most advanced automated baggage system in the world during the 1990s, only to create a massive machine that mercilessly chewed up and spat out luggage. The system was designed to use 4,000 laser-guided carts on 21 miles of track, theoretically delivering bags seamlessly to any gate. Instead, it became a legendary engineering failure, frequently derailing, misrouting bags to the wrong planes, and quite literally shredding expensive suitcases into confetti. The disaster delayed the airport's opening by 16 months, costing an extra million dollars a day in interest alone. Airlines eventually abandoned the high-tech nightmare and reverted to paying humans to violently throw your fragile items into the cargo hold, proving that sometimes, old-fashioned manual destruction is more cost-effective than automated malice
