Originally Posted by
flatlander
Sure, I can imagine some situation like being crushed between handling vehicles and a wall or similar, but it's hard to imagine any reasonable airport handling doing that.
Even being dropped off a baggage trolley, thrown around on the floor, or similar, would not cause that damage.
Once at JFK I witnessed a passenger being taken to the new luggage room by someone from AA. Their bag (a hardshell polycarbonate job) looked like it had been run over by a steamroller. I had no idea how the damage had happened but if there were any toiletries in there then they might well be everywhere inside after that. The word pancake came to mind because it was that bad. The passenger didn't seem too bothered after getting given a new one.