Singer's airline tune YouTube hit

Dave Carroll's song has taken off on YouTube, with 1.4m hits

A strung-out musician who blames United Airlines for breaking his prize guitar has taken revenge by writing a song that has become a YouTube hit.

Dave Carroll composed "United Breaks Guitars" after his Taylor acoustic was damaged at Chicago's O'Hare airport.

The fretting Canadian said he wrote the tune after months of trying to get the carrier to pay compensation.

United Airlines said the 41-year-old musician's song would be used for internal customer service training.

Mr Carroll says his instrument was wrecked by clumsy ground staff as he switched planes last year in Chicago, en route between Halifax and Nebraska.

His video is excellent, and we plan to use it internally as a unique learning and training opportunity United Airlines

The musician was left with a C$1,400 ($1,200; £740) repair bill, he says.

When the airline apparently struck a bum public relations note by refusing to take responsibility, he made the humorous folk music video and posted it online.

Featuring his friends posing as indifferent flight attendants and butter-fingered baggage handlers, by Friday the clip had been viewed nearly 1.4m times on the video-sharing website.

A United Airlines spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times: "His video is excellent and we plan to use it internally as a unique learning and training opportunity to ensure that all our customers receive better service."