A China Southern Airlines plane takes off from Liaoning province in 2019. Photo AFP
A China Southern Airlines flight was delayed for more than four hours after a passenger threw several coins into the plane’s engine to pray for luck.
Flight CZ8805 was initially scheduled to depart from the city of Sanya bound for Beijing around 10 a.m. on March 6 (local time), according to CNN.
However, the plane was only able to take off around 2 p.m., after a flight attendant discovered that a passenger had thrown coins into the engine.
After questioning, the passenger admitted to throwing three to five coins into the engine to pray for luck, CNN » said quoting a Chinese state media source.
To ensure safety, the flight crew checked the engine and the parts were found.
The passenger who allegedly threw the coins into the engine was later arrested by police, according to 1News.
China Southern Airlines said similar incidents of passengers throwing coins at planes for “good luck” had occurred in recent years in China.
In a March 6 post on China’s largest social network Weibo, the airline warned that throwing coins into aircraft engines was not only “uncivilized behavior” but also threatened aviation safety and security. would be punished.
Last year, a China Southern Airlines flight was delayed in Guangzhou after a passenger was caught throwing coins at the plane.
In 2021, a flight between Weifang and Haikou was canceled when several coins wrapped in red paper were discovered on the ground.
