Korean Air serves coffee with glass shard to passenger, report says

A 0.5-centimeter long, 0.1-centimeter thick piece of glass was found in an iced coffee drink served as part of an in-flight meal on a Korean Air flight heading to Incheon International Airport from Guangzhou, China, on Sep. 1, Yonhap reported Sunday.

A Korean Air Lines flight taxis at Incheon International Airport in July. [NEWS1]

A shard of glass was reportedly found in a coffee provided by Korean Air Lines.

A 0.5-centimeter (0.2-inch) long, 0.1-centimeter thick piece of glass was found in an iced coffee drink served as part of an in-flight meal on a Korean Air flight heading to Incheon International Airport from Guangzhou, China, on Sept. 1, Yonhap reported Sunday.

The passenger who drank the iced drink found the shard in his mouth, which was a broken piece from the glass.

He had to disgorge the food he ate in the aircraft's lavatory following the cabin crew's guidelines in case he swallowed more pieces.

"It had me retching for two more days. The cabin manager said the issue will be reported directly to the company, but I have not received a single call of apology," said the passenger.

"I might have gulped the drink down if it was some other beverage. I sent a letter to Korean Air's CEO to alert him on the seriousness of the issue and demanded countermeasures."

The passenger said he did not ask for any compensation but requested the airline to go public with the incident itself.

However, the airline rejected the request and gave him medical fees and a 100,000 won ($75) electronic voucher.

Korean Air Lines sent a letter to the passenger who nearly swallowed a shard of glass that it will strengthen the process of inspection for broken utensils. [YONHAP]

In a letter, Korean Air told the passenger it is investigating the incident with the in-flight meal supplier in Guangzhou.

"We will look into the details of the incident with the supplier and strengthen the process of inspecting damaged utensils to prevent similar cases," a Korean Air spokesperson said.

"In-flight drinks are being served after the crew gives one last examination with their bare eyes."

BY HYEON YE-SEUL [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]