Briohny Smyth, 44, who now teaches yoga in Los Angeles, filed the complaint in Los Angeles federal court on July 24, according to The Independent.

The incident she describes took place two years earlier, aboard a Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore to Los Angeles on July 28, 2024.

Smyth "unknowingly swallowed a jagged wooden splinter" that broke away from the skewer as she ate, the complaint states. It caused "immediate pain," "violent coughing" and "choking sensations."

She spent much of the flight trying to dislodge the fragment, according to the filing. She "ultimately" expelled "a jagged wooden shard approximately 1.5 inches in length," or roughly 3.8 cm.

She endured "substantial pain and emotional distress" in the process, the complaint says.

In the months that followed, Smyth "experienced persistent throat discomfort, vocal fatigue, raspiness, tightness, and pain with prolonged speaking and singing," according to the complaint.

An otolaryngologist she consulted afterward "identified scarring and trauma" to her vocal cords "consistent with injury from a sharp foreign object."

The complaint describes Smyth as a "professional singer, performer, wellness educator and public speaker" whose livelihood "substantially depends upon the integrity and performance of her voice." It contends she was "consuming the meal as intended" and bears no responsibility for what happened.

She is seeking damages for past and future medical expenses, past and future loss of earnings and earning capacity, and emotional distress associated with bodily injury. The complaint also seeks legal costs plus pre- and post-judgment interest.

It further cites professional harm and "anxiety associated with eating and flying."

Singapore Airlines planes sit on the tarmac at Changi Airport in Singapore December 8, 2020. Photo by Reuters

Singapore Airlines did not respond to The Independent's request for comment, and has not commented publicly about the case.

Singapore Airlines markets charcoal-grilled chicken and lamb skewers with peanut sauce as its "signature satay canape," served in both first and business class, and describes the dish on its own website as one of its all-time customer favorites.

On long-haul sectors the satay trolley typically opens the meal service, ahead of the appetizer course.

Smyth released a self-titled debut album in 1998 and recorded a run of hit records before leaving the industry, The Nation reported.

Bangkok Post reported that she took up yoga in Thailand in 1999, using it to work through anorexia and bulimia, and quit singing in 2004 after the birth of her daughter.

Her Instagram profile, followed by more than 360,000 people, describes her as a "Yoga teacher. Mom. Thai pop star." She still sings, and a 2011 yoga video she appeared in has drawn close to 16 million views on YouTube.

Passengers filing lawsuits against airlines regarding in-flight meals is not rare.

Doreen Benary, a New York doctor with a severe shellfish allergy, sued Singapore Airlines last year after a Frankfurt-to-New York flight diverted to Paris when she was served a meal containing shrimp, The Independent reported.

Karla Quinonez sued JetBlue in 2024 over an ice cream sandwich she described in court papers as "dangerously cold," saying it broke an incisor and required an emergency tooth extraction on landing, The Independent reported.

Singapore Airlines placed second behind Qatar Airways in Skytrax's 2025 World Airline Awards, the industry's most widely cited passenger survey.