Photo: dailymail.co.uk
When superstitions come to replace common sense, tragedies can happen. One such tragedy was avoided recently, as a domestic flight was about to take off from the airport at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Hubei province, China.
A 31-year-old man was arrested for tossing 3 coins at the plane’s engine, as he was boarding it, the Daily Mail informs, citing reports in the local media. The man, surnamed Xia, was traveling with his wife and his 4-month baby, and he was caught by surveillance cameras throwing the coins right before stepping into the cabin, as he stood on the bridge.
Reports say 3 coins were recovered on the ground. The man was detained and his wife had to fly out without him, after a 40-minute delay. Asked why he’d done such a thing, Xia told airport authorities that his mother-in-law had advised him to toss the money, while saying a prayer, to have a safe flight since this was the first time his baby was on a plane.
“Hainan Airlines flight 7783 departing for Urumqi, Xinjiang was delayed for 40 minutes, affecting 101 passengers on the plane,” the Mail writes. “Two 1 yuan and one 1 jiao coins were found on the ground near the aircraft's engine after a security guard alerted airline staff.”
Needless to say, had the coins gotten into the engine and had Xia’s actions remained unnoticed, the engine could have been severely damaged or even destroyed.
“The engine could tremble, lose speed and even stop in mid-air if a coin were sucked into its core. That would put all the passengers on board at great risk,” a professor at Civil Aviation University of China is cited as saying.
Next time, stick to saying a prayer.
Though strange, tossing coins at plane’s engines isn’t exactly uncommon, the Mail says. Recently, there have been at least a handful of similar incidents, two of them involving elderly passengers. All of them were spotted in due time, before takeoff.
Reports say 3 coins were recovered on the ground. The man was detained and his wife had to fly out without him, after a 40-minute delay. Asked why he’d done such a thing, Xia told airport authorities that his mother-in-law had advised him to toss the money, while saying a prayer, to have a safe flight since this was the first time his baby was on a plane.
“Hainan Airlines flight 7783 departing for Urumqi, Xinjiang was delayed for 40 minutes, affecting 101 passengers on the plane,” the Mail writes. “Two 1 yuan and one 1 jiao coins were found on the ground near the aircraft's engine after a security guard alerted airline staff.”
Needless to say, had the coins gotten into the engine and had Xia’s actions remained unnoticed, the engine could have been severely damaged or even destroyed.
“The engine could tremble, lose speed and even stop in mid-air if a coin were sucked into its core. That would put all the passengers on board at great risk,” a professor at Civil Aviation University of China is cited as saying.
Next time, stick to saying a prayer.
Though strange, tossing coins at plane’s engines isn’t exactly uncommon, the Mail says. Recently, there have been at least a handful of similar incidents, two of them involving elderly passengers. All of them were spotted in due time, before takeoff.
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