Air Canada flies to investigate passenger report of needle found in sandwich
The incident occurred on a domestic flight from Victoria, British Columbia to Toronto on 30 July.
Air Canada and Canadian Police are investigating the incident but it is not known if the passenger was injured.
Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said he was unable to answer specific questions put to him by FoodProductionDaily.com because the investigation was still in progress.
But he did confirm Air Canada had not received any further reports of similar incidents.
Passenger report
“We can confirm that we received a report from a passenger who found what appears to be a sewing needle in a pre-prepared sandwich on board our flight from Victoria, B.C. to Toronto on July 30.
“As soon as we were made aware, we immediately contacted the caterers that provision our flights, and a full investigation is under way.”
Fitzpatrick declined to reveal the name of the caterer who supplied the sandwiches.
“We are working closely with our caterers to ensure heightened security measures have been put in place.
“We are cooperating fully with police in their investigation. As the investigation is under way, we have no further details to provide.”
Canadian media reports said local police are investigating the potential of a disgruntled caterer planting the sewing needle after Labour talks aimed at avoiding strike action broke down.
Needle found on Delta flight
The incident follows six needles being found earlier this month in turkey sandwiches on four US-bound Delta Airlines flights to Minneapolis, Atlanta and Seattle from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.
The sandwiches were made in the Amsterdam kitchen of catering company Gate Gourmet, which has since removed all sandwiches from future flights out of Amsterdam.
Gate Gourmet said it is one of the caterers that serve Air Canada but not from where the flight originated from in Victoria.
Amsterdam police, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Transport Security Administration (TSA) launched investigations into the Delta incident.
A spokesman for Dutch police told the Associated Press it was too early to say whether there is any connection with the needles found on the Air Canada flight.
