If a catering cart seal is discovered broken or tampered with, what should you do?

• A. Ignore and continue service
• B. Report to Commander and search for foreign objects
• C. Re-seal the cart without reporting
• D. Close the flight until the cart is replaced

Answer: (B)

A catering cart seal is a tamper-evident safeguard, so when it’s broken or tampered with you must treat it as a potential security and safety issue. The immediate step is to report what you found to the Commander and perform a careful check of the cart and its contents for any foreign objects or signs of contamination. This protects passengers from possible tampering or unsafe items and allows the proper security process to start. Ignoring the break or simply resealing without reporting could hide a breach, and closing the flight until a replacement is arranged is not the standard first response—the situation should be assessed and handled under the Commander’s guidance after the inspection. If anything suspicious is discovered, follow the aircraft’s security procedures and document the incident.