Toss coins in there to ensure a safe flight? (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
From the “what was she thinking” department: Today South China Morning Post is reporting that a passenger walking across the ramp to board a plane in Shanghai tossed coins in the engine for for good luck.
“Passengers boarding the flight reportedly saw an elderly woman throwing coins at the engine for ‘blessings’ from the middle of the boarding staircase and alerted the crew,” according to the SCMP.
An inspection by airline staff recovered a total of nine coins (totalling 1.7 yuan or about 25 cents) from the engine, which the pilot said could have resulted in engine failure.
The Shanghai to Guangzhou flight (China Southern #380) was delayed for five hours due to the incident.
According to BBC, “After an investigation the involved passenger, surnamed Qiu, said she threw the coins to pray for safety. According to Qiu’s neighbour, Qiu believes in Buddhism,” the police said.
See BBC’s Tweet below for some classic comments about this incident:
Speaking of luck….don’t miss this chance for 2 free Singapore Air tickets to Hong Kong!
Elderly passenger delays flight after throwing coins into plane engine for good luck ?https://t.co/VKBVIgAuPG
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) June 27, 2017
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An 80 year old woman who meant no harm whatsoever. Come on.
Hope this story doesn’t go viral – lots more people will do it.
Was the woman arrested? An appropriate response to me is to arrest the elderly woman, release her, then make sure that zero tolerance for such unsafe behavior is communicated.
I fly in Mainland China more than I’d like to admit.