Passenger sues United Airlines after metal wire in his meal gets lodged in throat

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Last month, Delta Air Lines made worldwide headlines when their flight to Amsterdam had to be diverted to JFK due to passengers and crew being served ‘contaminated food.’ Here’s the story, including a photo of the moldy chicken that was the culprit.

Today, The Independent reports: “A passenger traveling from Washington Dulles International Airport to Berlin, Germany is suing United Airlines after swallowing a metal wire he says was unexpectedly lurking in his in-flight meal. Bastian Bromse required medical intervention to extricate the item, causing “pain, agony and mental anguish,” according to a federal lawsuit filed in Chicago, where United is headquartered.

The incident happened on May 27, 2023, aboard United flight 234 and according to the complaint, Bromse “sustained serious injuries to the inside of his throat when he swallowed a piece of wire hidden inside his airline-provided meal.”

Apparently, “the wire became lodged in his throat, and he was required to undergo a medical procedure to have the metal removed, which caused severe discomfort and pain.” Bromse is now demanding $170,000 in damages which according to the Independent is “the maximum allowed under the Montreal Convention — which governs an airline’s liability in the event of an in-flight injury — as well as a money judgment against United to be determined at trial.”

A United spokeswoman did not comment as litigation is ongoing.

This is not the first time that travelers have found objects in their food. The paper cites an incident that happened in June, when a business class passenger flying Air India from Bangalore to San Francisco supposedly bit down on a metal blade in the roasted sweet potato and fig chaat served with his meal. The worst part is the man complained to the stewardess “who spoke for four [or] five seconds. The conversation went something like: ‘Sorry about this and we will inform the catering team.’ She returned with a bowl of chickpea salad.”

In 2019, I popped into a ‪Popeye’s after we landed in Toronto because it was on the way to my mother-in-law’s (the only time I ever eat Popeye’s) and bought rice and beans for my son and some spicy chicken for me and my wife. I tasted the beans to see if they were too hot or spicy for my two and a half year old son and I bit into a rock. Yes, a rock!

I was so fortunate it happened to me and not him because he could easily have choked. I posted about the incident on social media and heard from many people who told me that it’s fairly common to find rocks in beans, including commenter who used to sift for rocks in red beans for a restaurant. On Twitter, he wrote that there are “lots of rocks in red beans. Absolutely critical you sift through them before cooking.”

I’ve visited an airline catering company just outside Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris (see photo above and read my story) and I know there are strict policies in place but obviously mistakes (and hopefully not malice) can happen.