Bradenton, Florida - Passengers don't usually rave about food on airplanes, but passengers finding a sharp object in their sandwiches could have had serious consequences.

The FBI is leading an international criminal investigation into how inch-long sewing needles ended up in six turkey sandwiches on four different flights to the U.S.  One flight headed to Minneapolis, another to Seattle and two to Atlanta. 

A 16-year-old boy on his way to Bradenton nearly bit into one of those needles.

"The goal was to hurt people going to America," William Drogt speculates.

The Drogt family just finished a two week vacation to Amsterdam. On Sunday, Jack Drogt took a Delta flight to Minneapolis while the rest of the family headed to Sarasota. Across two separate flights, father and son shared the same horrifying experience as they bit into a turkey and cheese sandwich.

William says, "I was a few bites in. I see a black dot in the center of the sandwich. I wonder what it is and I pull it out."

William says the cabin lights were low and he was unable to see well. He showed the long sharp item to his mother.

"At first I think it's lead from a pencil. My mom inspects it and we see the eye of the needle -- a sewing needle in the sandwich. We are very alarmed."

The sewing needle is more than an inch long. The family alerted the flight attendants, who document the flight information on a napkin for them.

"What I found interesting is the way the needle was positioned straight with the sandwich, not at an angle. It seemed deliberately placed," says William. He adds, "Could be a precursor to doing more, like poisoning the food."

William says when he flies again he will still eat the food, but next time he'll be more careful. He says, "I will look through it before I eat it."

Isabel Mascarenas