On 14 February 1992, food contaminated with cholera was distributed to the passengers on Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 386. One of the passengers died from the illness.
Contaminated shrimp entered the aircraft in Lima, a year after a cholera outbreak began in Peru.[2][3][4] Five passengers showed signs of the illness immediately after landing at Los Angeles International Airport.[2] Several days later that number rose to 76.[5] One of them, a man in his early seventies, died from the illness.[1][3][6] The cholera on the contaminated food did not spread to other areas within the United States.[1]
Even though the Peruvian caterer that provided the food to Aerolíneas Argentinas in Lima also provided service to other companies the same day and no signs of the illness were reported, the Argentineflag carrier blamed it for entering the contaminated food into the aircraft.[7] This led to a controversy that eventually ended with the airline banned from operating into Peruvian territory.[2]
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) stated that the responsibility for the safety of the operator organization is not changed by subcontracting of catering or other services to third parties.[9]
^Fox J. (1996). "Convention on international civil aviation.". The regulation of international commercial aviation: the international structure. Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications. Booklet 2.
^International Civil Aviation Organization. "Facilitation": annex 9 to The Convention on international civil aviation. Montreal: International Civil Aviation Organization, 1990.
^"ICAO meeting seeks ways to facilitate international air travel". ICAO Journal. 50: 23–4. May 1995.