All she had to do was walk up the stairs and get on the plane.
Instead, per UPI, an 80-year-old Chinese woman delayed her plane for several hours by superstitiously throwing coins into her airplane’s engine for “good luck.” Fellow passengers saw her throw the coins and alerted airline staff before the plane left.
The China Southern Airlines Airbus 320—which can be seen here being inspected after the incident—was scheduled to fly from Pudong to Guangzhou.
China Southern Airlines flight from #Shanghai to #Guangzhou grounded for four hours after old lady throws coins into the engine pic.twitter.com/5Xwv2yVXqT
— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) June 27, 2017
The inspection of the engine turned up one of the coins—and eight others in the general area. All told, it took five hours to make sure the engine was clear of loose change.
The pilot was quoted as saying that had the plane taken off with the change in the engine, it could’ve caused damage—or even engine failure.
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