Flight Delayed Due to Passengers Throwing Coins into Engine: A Serious Threat to Air Travel Safety
A flight operated by China Southern Airlines was recently delayed due to a disturbing incident involving a passenger. The scheduled departure of CZ8805 from Tam Á, Hainan Island, to Beijing at approximately 10 a.m. local time on March 6 was pushed back for over four hours, according to tracking data from Flightradar24 and Flight Aware.
In a video shared by various Chinese media outlets, a flight attendant can be seen interrogating a passenger who allegedly threw coins into the engine. The attendant asked the passenger how many coins were thrown, to which the passenger replied, “Three to five coins.”
China Southern Airlines reported that airport police apprehended the passenger accused of throwing the coins mentioned earlier. During the security inspection, coins were indeed found in the engine.
“The aircraft maintenance staff conducted a thorough safety check and determined that there were no safety issues prior to takeoff,” the airline’s customer service department informed the press.
In response to the incident on March 6, China Southern Airlines issued a warning on their official Weibo account, emphasizing the need to discourage uncivilized behavior and stating that throwing coins into aircraft engines poses a threat to aviation safety. The airline has also mentioned that various penalties will be applied to passengers engaging in such behavior.
Recent years have seen several cases of Chinese passengers throwing coins into aircraft engines as a superstitious act for good luck. In October 2023, a China Southern Airlines flight was delayed in Guangzhou after a passenger threw coins into the engine. In 2021, a GX Airlines flight from Du Fu, Guangdong, to Haikou, Hainan, was canceled when red-wrapped coins were discovered on the ground. Back in 2017, an elderly passenger threw coins into a China Southern Airlines plane while boarding at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, believing it to be a prayer for a safe flight.
The recurring incidents involving passengers throwing coins into aircraft engines highlight the need for stronger awareness campaigns and stricter penalties to deter such dangerous behavior. It is crucial for passengers to understand that their actions can have severe consequences, not only causing flight delays but also jeopardizing the safety of everyone on board.
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