Originally Posted by abmj-jr

You are unlikely to get anything from the airline. If you had no travel insurance, I hope your homeowners will help you. With that much valuable gear, I think travel insurance is a must.

It is too late for this trip but a bit of advice on carrying photo gear might be in order. I keep my cameras and lenses in a small backpack "personal item" that fits easily under the seat in front of me. Everything else, clothes, accessories, tripod, etc goes in a carry-on size rollaboard. If that must be gate checked, the cameras are still safe with me. Never let your photo gear out of your possession. I won't even put mine in the overhead bin.