SHANGHAI: She was flying Lucky Air, but that wasn't enough for an elderly Chinese woman who tossed coins at the jet's engine to wish for a safe flight, prompting authorities to detain her and ground the flight.
The incident occurred on Wednesday (Oct 19) at the airport in the city of Anqing in eastern China's Anhui province, according to authorities, and was at least the second such report this year of a safety scare caused by a coin-tossing elderly Chinese.
Fellow passengers reported that coins were tossed at the engine of a Lucky Air jet during boarding, and ground crew later found coins lying on the tarmac next to the plane, according to various statements by the airline, airport authorities, and transport police.
A 76-year-old woman was subsequently taken into custody, transport police said. It was not clear whether she would face charges. Lucky Air is under the Hainan Airlines group.
The flight, which was to depart Anqing for the city of Kunming in southwestern China, was grounded overnight as a safety precaution. The passengers were subsequently flown to Kunming the following morning, authorities said.
In June, a superstitious 80-year-old woman delayed a China Southern Airlines flight at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport for nearly six hours after she tossed nine coins at the engine from the tarmac while boarding, with one nestling inside.
The woman was detained but eventually spared prosecution due to her age, state media reported. Shanghai airport authorities said she was a devoted Buddhist and believed the act would ensure her safety on the flight to the southern city of Guangzhou.
zscuro on October 20th, 2017 at 15:33 UTC »
As someone who works with engine maintenance for a major airline, I find this hilarious and terrifying
Edit: Slowish day at work so I'm trying to answer everyone's questions
Edit 2: Lots of interesting questions, happy to help with what I can. So a quick bit of whatever - the change in the engine could potentially cause a mid-flight shutdown. Not a plane crash. Planes now can fly on just one of their 2 engines. But then you don't have a backup and you're putting too much stress on the engine so it's a bad idea.
The concern by engineers, myself, and other people with plane experience isn't that it will crash, it's that now they HAVE to take the engine off and take it apart to make sure nothing is in it. Which is time and money. Here the FAA won't let you roll the dice; it comes off. Which delays people. And connections. Eats up a spare engine. Changes the maintenance pipeline. All sorts of crap. We do very extensive modeling to predict how our engines will fly and, I'm sad to say, we have yet to add the variable of little old ladies with pocket change.
JeansAndHeels on October 20th, 2017 at 15:14 UTC »
I would like to know what her reaction to it all was. Was she bewildered that people thought she put the flight at risk? Was she embarrassed at her own ignorance? Was she disappointed she brought bad luck onto herself? Or was she furious at her fellow passengers for telling on her
DubiousNerd on October 20th, 2017 at 13:47 UTC »
/r/shittylifeprotips
"Going on a flight? Toss a few coins in the engine for good luck. Pilots and stewards will appreciate the tips."