Man sues United Airlines after metal wire in meal gets lodged in throat

Traveler Bastian Bromse says in court papers that the episode caused him ‘pain, agony and mental anguish’

Bastian Bromse required medical intervention to remove the unexpected object lurking in his food, according to a federal lawsuit. (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

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.

A United spokeswoman told The Independent the airline did not “have anything to share since the litigation is ongoing.”

The episode occurred on May 27, 2023, aboard United flight 234, states Bromse’s complaint, which was filed in late July. Once the aircraft reached cruising altitude, the meal service began, according to the complaint. But, it says, when Bromse tucked in, he quickly realized that something was very wrong.

Through no fault of his own, Bromse “sustained serious injuries to the inside of his throat when he swallowed a piece of wire hidden inside his airline-provided meal,” the complaint alleges. “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.”

Bastian Bromse was flying from Washington Dulles International Airport to Berlin when he says the offending object wedged itself in his throat. (Getty Images)

“As a result of the aforesaid accident… Bromse suffered pain, agony and mental anguish,” the complaint states, adding that Bromse was further “deprived of his enjoyment of life, pursuits and interests.”

He is demanding $170,000 in compensatory damages, 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.

Bromse is far from the only traveler to experience such an incident.

In June, a business-class passenger flying Air India from Bangalore to San Francisco said he bit down on a metal blade in the roasted sweet potato and fig chaat served with his meal.

Airline passengers claim to have found everything from hypodermic needles to human teeth in their meals. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

“A few spoonfuls into the chaat, I felt something hard/metallic inside the mouth, and after chewing for two-three seconds, I spat it out into the bowl to find a blade,” Mathures Paul told The Hindu. “Obviously, I 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.”

When a passenger aboard a February 2019 Singapore Airlines flight from Melbourne, Australia to Wellington, New Zealand felt a hard object in his mouth while enjoying a forkful of rice, he soon discovered a human tooth had found its way into his meal.

“I threw my guts up,” the man told the Australian Associated Press. “For the rest of the flight I was not well. Just the idea of having someone else’s body part in my food is not nice.”

Other fliers have allegedly found hypodermic needles in their butter chicken, cockroaches in their lentil stew, and severed snake heads in their potatoes.

Bromse’s attorney, Chicago-based Brian LaCien, did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.