Five passengers on Delta Airlines flights on Sunday received an unexpected (and unwanted) surprise in their turkey sandwiches. The airlines said in a report today that objects which appeared to be sewing needles were found in five sandwiches on four different flights. One needle was found on-board a flight to Minneapolis, two were found on two different flights to Atlanta and one on a flight to Seattle. One person was injured but did not seek medical treatment.
A criminal investigation has been opened and Atlanta’s FBI office is looking into the case.
Delta spokeswoman Kristin Baur said that flight attendants stopped serving the sandwiches as soon as the needles were discovered. The food was supplied by Gate Gourmet, a Swiss-based catering company and the largest supplier of catering services for airlines. Once the needles were found, passengers received pizza instead.
Both Delta and Gate Gourmet have issued statements regarding the incident.
“Delta is taking this matter extremely seriously and is co-operating with local and federal authorities who are investigating the incident,” Baur said. “Delta has taken immediate action with our in-flight caterer at Amsterdam to ensure the safety and quality of the food we provide onboard our aircraft,” the airline said in a written statement.
Meanwhile, Gate Gourmet issued their own statement, after noting that they have not received any other similar reports from other airlines.
“We take this matter very seriously, and we have launched our own full-scale investigation,” said Gate Gourmet spokeswoman Christina Ulosevich, noting that company is “heightening our already stringent safety and security procedures, to prevent any recurrence.”
We’ll keep you posted as more information on this story is released.
Source: NationaPost.com.
