Curry explodes at 35,000 feet

[Seng Lim 0]

Curry explodes at 35,000 feet

 

By JOHN KAY Chief Reporter

May 21, 2007

 

A STEWARDESS caused £20,000 of damage on a jumbo jet — when her curry EXPLODED in a microwave at 35,000ft.

The transatlantic flight from Heathrow carried on to Miami after cabin crew grabbed a fire extinguisher to douse the blazing oven.

 

Last night British Airways insisted there was no threat to passengers’ safety — although the Boeing 747 needed days of repairs.

 

The air hostess was heating up a ready meal she bought from a supermarket when the curry exploded. BA has now BANNED staff from using new high-powered microwaves in club class kitchens for non-airline food on its fleet of jumbos.

 

A secret memo emailed to all BA long-haul crews — entitled “Microwave incident” — warns that grub needs special packaging because the ovens are twice as strong as domestic ones.

 

It says the incident with the curry had “disastrous consequences”. One BA employee said: “Many cabin crew like to bring their own meals to eat.

 

“At first we thought the microwaves were a godsend. But this unfortunate incident has left us with egg on our faces.” BA stressed: “At no time was there any danger to passengers or the aircraft.”

 

Source:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007230271,00.html

[Keith T 2]

The ovens are installed as part of BA's new generation Club World, for the service called Club Kitchen (formerly known as 'Raid the Larder'). Obviously not meant to heat anything more than sandwiches, meat salads and the like.

 

I was just going to comment on the hyperbole in the article when I realised it's from the Sun. Some factual inaccuracies here:

1) The oven was not blazing by any means

2) Neither was the memo 'secret'

3) There was absolutely no danger to the aircraft because the microwave units are designed to contain fire. "disastrous consequences" indeed, when the a/c flew and landed normally - oh wait, don't you love an unattributed source

4) Ah yes - exploded in CAPS for effect

 

And since this is the Sun, I'm kinda disappointed. Where are the references to pax screaming, writing their last msgs to loved ones and subsequently vowing they'd never fly BA again? Not to mention "anonymous sources" from regulatory bodies that BA had breached multiple clauses of some fictitious regulation that only exists in the mind of The Sun? Damn - your-lets-not-worry-about-detail-page-3-oh-so-fantabulous-BA-hating-read-on-to-find-out-who-your-favourite-Z-list-celebrity-is-shagging publication is definitely losing its touch. Oh the outrage!

 

Edited May 22, 2007 by Keith T

[Louis L. 2]

curry???sure the plane will smell like it.....hehe........anyway....food can really explode inside micorowave???

[KK Lee 5]

It speaks of the quality and taste of airline food. Supermarket ready to eat food taste better than airline food.

 

[BC Tam 2]

Is the curry of the 'vindaloo' variety ?

In which case, it's likely to explode a second time - inside one's mouth upon hitting the taste buds !!

[Seng Lim 0]

anyway....food can really explode inside micorowave???

Of course it will explode if the user have no basic knowledge on how to use microwave oven.

The perfect example will be heat up an egg without broken the yolk, try it and you'll see.

 

[Chan CS 0]

So next, NO MORE FOOD ON BOARD, for safety reason, no meals will be served on board, as terrorist might use it to threaten the flight. Sorry for the inconvenient caused.

[BC Tam 2]

..... The perfect example will be heat up an egg without broken the yolk, .....

I think you mean without breaking the shell ??

[Keith T 2]

I think you mean without breaking the shell ??

 

Please DO NOT experiment with that!

 

Yes eggs without a pierced yolk will 'explode' because the air bubbles trapped inside the yolk have no way of escaping and will burst rather violently. But that's still not nearly as dangerous as microwaving eggs in their shells... so please do not attempt as there's a real risk of serious injury if you do.

[Seng Lim 0]

I think you mean without breaking the shell ??

I mean cooking without breaking the yolk (that yellow round thing), however if you cook with the whole egg with shell on it will cause explosion as well.

 

For more information on microwaves oven safety issues :

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/BHCV2/b...es?OpenDocument

[Mohd Idham 0]

Imagine that you at that STEWARDESS place, damaging a jumbo seven forty seven with your own fault, what would you do ??

 

 

[Naim 6]

curry???sure the plane will smell like it.....hehe........anyway....food can really explode inside micorowave???

 

Try microwaving an egg.

 

+++

[Radzi 2]

Exploding curry.......... hmmm, who need liquid? Curry explosive is better.

 

Another item to be banned.

[Azuan Zahdi 2]

funny. give the stewardess our version of kari kepala ikan kampung pandan, and lets see what happens to the plane... i'm sure this little incident is being exagerated by The Sun.

 

 

[Keith T 2]

i'm sure this little incident is being exagerated by The Sun.

 

Nah - not their finest effort. No mention of traumatised pax or priests on the plane performing last rites...

They're also missing their usual 'join the Sun in its oh so righteous boycott of BA' tagline.

 

BUT at least they didn't confuse a 737 with a 747 this time.

[Azuddin 1]

Curry explode, whoa, never heard that could happen.

 

But i do heard that "budu" (anchovies sauce) and "cencalok" (shrimp sauce) can explode in high altitude.

[Izanee 0]

if its a vindaloo bc tam, there will be third explosion - this will not be as pleasant as the first two. its called the FAS (Fiery a*s syndrome)!

[BC Tam 2]

Ah yes, forgot about the 'aftermath' ! But then the said third explosion could be inflight (where disruptive/destructive forces could be worse than preceeding two) or on terra firma (never mind, can always blame the next person ?!)

[Andrew Ong 1]

But i do heard that "budu" (anchovies sauce) and "cencalok" (shrimp sauce) can explode in high altitude.

 

I didn't know that budu can explode at high altitudes

Edited May 25, 2007 by Andrew Ong

[rauf 0]

i thought the curry was caused by a passenger and not a stewardess. i heard bout this on hitz.fm , lol.