Air India confirms presence of metal blade in passenger's food

Days after an Air India passenger found a metal blade in his airline meal, the carrier has confirmed the claim. In a statement, Rajesh Dogra, Chief Customer Experience Officer, Air India said, "Air India confirms that a foreign object was found in the meal of a guest aboard one of our flights. After investigation, it has been identified as coming from the vegetable processing machine used at the facilities of our catering partner. We have worked with our catering partner to strengthen measures to prevent any recurrence, including more frequent checking of the processor especially after chopping of any hard vegetable."

The statement comes days after journalist Mathures Paul took to micro-blogging platform X to share photos of the metal object in his plate.

Mathures recounted his harrowing experience with the former flag carrier, X (formerly Twitter). The incident unfolded on flight number 175 from Bengaluru to San Francisco, where he was initially served a 'fig chaat'. However, what started as an inflight comfort meal quickly turned into a nightmare for Mathures. Upon biting into the dish, he felt something metallic in his mouth and immediately spat out the food, discovering a blade. Fortunately, Mathures escaped unharmed from the ordeal.

Mathures expressed his shock and dismay at the incident, highlighting the negligence he perceived from Air India and its staff. He emphasized the grave danger of having a blade on board an aircraft and criticized the initial response from the crew. According to Mathures, the stewardess apologized briefly and returned with a bowl of chickpeas.

He underscored the potential fatal consequences if the same dangerous situation had occurred with a child. Despite the airline's subsequent offer of a business class trip anywhere in the next year as compensation, Mathures declined, labeling it as a bribe.

This is not the first time that Air India has faced flak over its on-board services. A couple of days ago, a business-class passenger on an Air India New Delhi-Newark flight alleged that "uncooked" food was served during his flight. Yet another passenger took to X to share photos of malfunctioning in-flight entertainment systems.