In-flight lizard meal lands Indian airline in court

Link : http://uk.news.yahoo.com/041029/323/f5ldu.html



NEW DELHI, India (AFP) - The lizard biryani served on a Jet Airways flight in India proved just too spicy for a startled passenger who is taking the private carrier to court.

The airline admitted in a statement published Friday that it had launched an inquiry into how the two-inch lizard came to be cooked and served up to businessman Ashok Sharma.

"We are conducting an investigation of the unfortunate incident," Jet Airways chief operating officer Peter Luethi said.

"I am planning to file a case in the consumer court on returning to Bangalore," Sharma told The Statesman newspaper.

"This is a gross act of negligence and someone has to be made accountable," he said.

The biryani has been sent for testing amid claims from airline officials of "sabotage" at LSG Sky Chefs, a catering firm who supplied the food for the Bangalore to New Delhi connection on Wednesday night.

"We have taken all possible action in our operation in Bangalore to identify the potential root cause of this incident," LSG's operations director Michael Machartzek told the daily.

Jet Airways afforded Sharma VIP treatment on arrival in Delhi and a car to take him to his hotel, but he refused to hand over the lizard until he was ready.

"I insisted that I will bring it back to Delhi to highlight their negligence in the media," he said.