When taking a plane, you get separated from your luggage for a long time, with no way of knowing whether it will be handled with care.

Malaysian couple Patricia Lim and her husband Calvin Tan had a nasty experience on board an AirAsia plane.

They visited Taiwan to take part in the Ironman 70.3 race in Taitung together with a group of friends, then flew back on AirAsia flight AK 171 on March 21.

Bouncing bikes

After landing at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 and while waiting to disembark, Lim and Tan saw a pair of baggage handlers begin unloading cargo from the plane.

To their surprise, they saw their own sports bicycles coming down the ramp, spotting their names on the tags. Tan began recording a video on his phone.

However, instead of handling the bikes carefully, the handlers just casually tossed them off the ramp and onto the ground.

You can watch the video that Lim uploaded to Facebook below. As of 1500hrs on March 22, it has garnered over 211,000 views and over 4,000 shares:

Loyal customers

Speaking to Mothership, Lim said that they frequently take AirAsia flights because they participate in many bike races around Southeast Asia and the Asian region.

Lim said that Tan took a video because they had experienced similar incidents before on AirAsia flights, but they did not manage to record it in time.

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According to Lim, the bikes that she and her husband used cost about RM 30,000 (S$10,075). However, they were not damaged despite being thrown onto the ground.

But a friend of theirs on the same flight wasn't as fortunate. Her bicycle, which was "more expensive" than Lim and Tan's, was damaged.

AirAsia responds

Lim said that they made a report to AirAsia about the incident. A representative got in touch with them and scheduled a meeting for March 23.

AirAsia's Group CEO Tony Fernandes also personally mentioned the incident on his Facebook page, posting the same video that Tan took.

He said:

"From an Airasia flight. We now have a joint venture Ground handling company called GTR. But We take full responsibility. After meeting all my ramp boys and girls I’m really disappointed. 

Riad Asmat our CEO is in charge, himself a cyclist will be in touch and make sure no damage. And will make a statement to reassure all cyclists. We are a company that if we make a mistake we stand up and take the heat. We will get better. Apologises."

Despite the experience, Lim said that she does not harbour any "dislike" for AirAsia, and that she believes it is not a "bad" airline.

However, she said that she just wants to point out what happened, so that it can improve.

Top image via screen shot from Patricia Lim's video.