A police investigation is underway after a sewing needle was found in a sandwich on an Air Canada flight from Victoria to Toronto earlier this week.
The needle turned up Monday on flight AC190 bound for Pearson International Airport, inside what Air Canada spokeswoman Angela Mah said was a pre-prepared sandwich provided by a catering company.
“The safety of our customers and crew is our first priority, and we are taking this matter very seriously,” Mah said in an email statement.
“We are working closely with our caterers to ensure heightened security measures have been put in place.”
The company says it contacted authorities immediately after the needle was found, and there have been no reports of similar discoveries.
The bizarre incident comes just weeks after several needles were found in sandwiches on Delta Air flights from Amsterdam to the United States, including one which punctured the mouth of a passenger.
Robert van Kapel, a spokesman for Dutch authorities investigating the previous cases, told CTV News Wednesday it was too early to say whether there is any connection to the Air Canada incident.
“At this moment we have no indication there’s a direct link,” van Kapel said. “Of course, there will be contact about what the Canadian police [have] found.”
Police in the Netherlands are currently conducting forensic examinations on the sandwiches to try and determine where the needles came from, he added.
The sandwiches discovered on Delta Air flights were prepared in the Amsterdam kitchen of Gate Gourmet, an airline catering company that handles meals for more than three million flights annually.
The company is also one of several that supplies to Air Canada, but not on flights departing from Victoria. The origin of the sandwich discovered en route to Toronto is still under investigation.
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Nafeesa Karim
