A Korean Air passenger was drinking iced coffee on board his flight this month when he found a glass fragment in his mouth.

He was flying from Chinese city Guangzhou to the Incheon International Airport in South Korea on Sept 1 when he almost swallowed the glass shard that measured about 0.5cm long and 0.1cm thick.

The cabin crew later found that the glass cup holding the coffee was chipped, reported BusinessKorea magazine. But it was unclear if the glass shard came from the same cup.

The passenger said he induced vomiting to purge his meal in the restroom as suggested by the cabin crew, in case he had swallowed more bits of glass, reported English-language media publication Korea JoongAng Daily.

The man was not injured.

“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 counter-measures,” the passenger said as reported by the South Korean media. 

The passenger said he did not request compensation, but wanted Korean Air to make the incident public.

Korean Air turned down his request, but assisted him on his medical bills and provided a 100,000 won (S$100) e-voucher.

The airline wrote to the passenger to apologise for the near-injury due to the defective glass cup.

It said the cup was supplied by its in-flight meal provider, and the defect was not detected during the final inspection before the utensil was loaded on board.

Cabin crew would do a visual check of in-flight drinks before they are served, it added.

The airline told the passenger it was investigating the matter with its in-flight meal supplier in Guangzhou, and said it would step up on the inspection of its utensils to prevent similar incidents from happening again.