A Delta Air Lines passenger traveling from Chicago (ORD) to Seattle (SEA) says he was poisoned by a toxic plant, black nightshade, found in his first class salad, which made him violently ill. To make matters worse, the flight attendant grabbed hte “evidence” and refused to hand it over.

Delta Passenger Claims He Was Poisoned By Toxic Weed In First Class Meal

The passenger told View From The Wing that he fell violently ill mid-flight, experiencing nausea and abdominal pain consistent with solanine poisoning. When he attempted to preserve the evidence, a flight attendant allegedly confiscated the contaminated salad, calling it “Delta’s property.” After landing, paramedics met the flight and treated the passenger. Here’s how he describes what happened:

1) While eating my entree (Southwest Harvest Salad) in the dimmed cabin, I tasted something “off” as I swallowed a mouthful of my otherwise delightful salad.

2) I turned on the overhead light to look more closely at the salad, and promptly found a sizeable stalk of black nightshade (Solanum nigra), flowers and all.

3) This is a well known toxic plant that is a weed routinely found in agricultural settings.

4) I had unknowingly ingested an unknown amount before noticing it.

5) I became quite ill, with all of the symptoms I now know to be typical: intestinal cramping, diarrhea, excess salivation, nausea, vomiting.

6) Fortunately, I was able to save the uneaten stalk of nightshade. To provide to the paramedics who took me off the plane at Sea-Tac. So they’d know what they were dealing with. I informed lead flight attendant Larisa of my intention to save the specimen

7) Unfortunately, while in the forward bathroom being very sick, Larisa took the specimen. She refused to return it to me. She refused to show it to the paramedics. She claimed it was “Delta’s property now”.

Delta said it is investigating the claim and that food safety is taken seriously, but offered no further comment pending review and to this point, has offered the passenger only 3,000 SkyMiles in compensation.

My Take

I don’t doubt that something went wrong here: the photos clearly show what looks like black nightshade, a plant known to be toxic. And the reported symptoms line up. But the more disturbing part isn’t the contamination itself (accidents can happen in food prep, though this is a huge error), it is the alleged handling of the situation afterward.

If a flight attendant really confiscated the food and refused to show it to the paramedics or even document the incident, that’s an enormous procedural failure. Unlike a peanut allergy that is due to the passenger’s own health, this was poison served on a tray…and it was not the property of Delta. Evidence was thankfully photographed, but it should not have been snatched from the passengers without his consent.

If this passenger’s story holds up (and I have no reason to doubt it), Delta has a bigger issue than a single bad salad: a breakdown in accountability.

CONCLUSION

Mistakes in catering can happen anywhere, but serving poison is a glaring error and the mishandling of evidence makes it worse. Whether the salad contained black nightshade or not, Delta owes transparency and a clear process review. I don’t think it is asking to much to say that the first class meal should never come with a side of poison…

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