icon bookmark-bicon bookmarkicon cameraicon checkicon chevron downicon chevron lefticon chevron righticon chevron upicon closeicon v-compressicon downloadicon editicon v-expandicon fbicon fileicon filtericon flag ruicon full chevron downicon full chevron lefticon full chevron righticon full chevron upicon gpicon insicon mailicon moveicon-musicicon mutedicon nomutedicon okicon v-pauseicon v-playicon searchicon shareicon sign inicon sign upicon stepbackicon stepforicon swipe downicon tagicon tagsicon tgicon trashicon twicon vkicon yticon wticon fm
26 Feb, 2019 10:41

Chinese airline sues passenger who threw coins into engine for good luck

Chinese airline sues passenger who threw coins into engine for good luck

A Chinese airline is suing a passenger for causing more than $20,000 in damages after they threw coins into a plane’s engine for “good luck” and grounded the flight.

Staff for the airline, ironically named ‘Lucky Air,’ questioned passengers after finding two 1-yuan coins on the tarmac near the left engine before the domestic flight on February 17 from Anqing, in East China’s Anhui province, to Kunming in Yunnan province.

A 28-year-old passenger, identified only as ‘Lu,’ reportedly admitted to tossing the coins for “good luck” and is now being sued for disrupting the flight, which was grounded with 162 passengers onboard over safety concerns.

Also on rt.com 40 winks at 35,000ft: Pilot snoozes at controls of 747 passenger jet (VIDEO)

The airline said the flight cancellation, which involved a full engine check and reallocation of passengers to another plane the following day, cost about 140,000 yuan ($21,000).

Lu, was taken into custody by airport police and detained for seven days. The company said in a statement that it would sue the passenger in question.

The incident caused a direct economic loss of nearly 140,000 yuan, and our company will press charges against the passenger in accordance with the law”.

Also on rt.com Elderly woman throwing coins in engine ‘for good luck’ causes 5-hour plane delay

Lucky Air suffered a similar incident in 2017, when an elderly passenger threw two coins towards a plane. That same year an 80-year-old passenger threw nine coins into the engine of a China Southern Airline plane, causing more than a million yuan ($150,000) in damage.

Small change could wreak havoc in a jet. Ouyang Jie, a professor at Civil Aviation University of China, told Asia One that a coin caught in an engine could cause it to stop working midair, and offenders should be blacklisted and banned from air travel.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!

Podcasts
0:00
23:13
0:00
25:0