Passengers walk past Air Canada planes on the runway at Pearson International Airport in Toronto.
Consider this a public service announcement: If you’re one of the few that still receives actual food on an airline flight, check your meal over for needles before you start chomping.
Following the discovery of a handful of needles on flights leaving Amsterdam for the U.S. two weeks ago, Air Canada has confirmed a sewing needle was found on a Canadian flight this week. Though it’s suspiciously similar, police are saying it’s too early to connect the two incidents. For one, it doesn’t appear the same caterer is responsible.
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In the Amsterdam situation, turkey sandwiches from worldwide airline caterer Gate Gourmet were tainted with the sewing-like needles on flights bound for Minneapolis, Seattle and Atlanta. While Air Canada wouldn’t name the caterer it used on its flight from Victoria, B.C., to Toronto, Gate Gourmet says it isn’t the airline’s provider out of Victoria in western Canada, where the flight originated.
Similar to the previous Delta incidents, the sewing needle was found by a passenger eating a pre-packaged, catered sandwich. The passenger wasn’t hurt and no other needles have been reported, either by Delta or Air Canada.
Air Canada says that safety-first measures are paramount and a “top priority.” Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said in a statement that the airline has already worked with the unnamed caterer to “ensure heightened security measures” in light of the sewing needle discovery. Police have stepped in to investigate as the FBI and Dutch authorities continue to look into the mid-July incident as well
Gate Gourmet says it now inspects and screens all products before they board flights.