British Airways has launched an investigation after three cabin crew members were taken to hospital for treatment after unknowingly consuming sweets containing cannabis, reportedly handed to them by a passenger.

The incident took place last week on a British Airways flight operating from London Heathrow to Los Angeles. According to a report in The Sun, a passenger distributed sweets to members of the cabin crew as a gesture of goodwill. Unaware that the items were drug-infused, the crew accepted them and later consumed the sweets after the aircraft had landed in the United States.

The sweets were later found to contain high levels of THC, the psychoactive compound found in marijuana, with doses reportedly reaching up to 300 mg. Fortunately, the crew members did not eat the sweets during the flight, instead consuming them while travelling on the crew bus after arrival in Los Angeles.

Soon after eating the sweets, the crew members began to feel unwell. Three staff members who had consumed multiple sweets experienced intense disorientation, panic, and what were described as severe “out-of-body” sensations. As their condition worsened, they were taken to hospital for medical attention.

A source told The Sun that passengers offering sweets to flight staff is a fairly common practice and is usually seen as a kind gesture. However, in this case, the crew quickly realised something was wrong.

“It is a godsend in this case the sweets in question were not shared out among the crew until they had arrived in the US,” the source said. “They were consumed in the crew bus after touchdown, and tired staff gratefully gobbled them up.”

The airline is treating the matter seriously, and efforts are reportedly under way to identify the passenger responsible for handing out the drug-laced sweets, with the individual potentially facing several police charges, the source added.