Pretty sure they meant the package, proper bubble wrapping would handle the abuse. That’s on the person boxing it all up.

FedEx lost a $500k case of equipment for the service techs who maintain the instruments we use at work. They work nationwide and have two of these cases for the entire country, they keep thousands of labs running. FedEx just… lost it. Eventually it was found a few weeks later or something. The cost is not really a big deal, it is basically just instrument components they use to verify the running components, but they’re the components that all instruments are compared to, so they can’t just put together another case as it suits them. There’s extra testing that goes in to make sure these components are exactly to spec.

Ackshually, the plane is the matter jar. It’s just super uncomfortable for the passengers if the pilot doesn’t get the maneuver just right in the air, so they land and do it there instead. Sometimes they’ll fly along the equator and do it slowly if they’re going across the Pacific, e.g. USA -> Australia, instead of USA -> Chile