Passenger sued for throwing coins into plane’s engines
The practice of tossing coins into a plane’s engines to wish for a safe flight had the opposite effect for one Chinese passenger last week.
He is being sued by the aptly named Lucky Air after the flight had to be grounded overnight.
The flight from Anqing, Anhui province, to Kunming was delayed after two coins were found near the engine.
After crew members asked if anyone had thrown the coins into the engine, a passenger named Lu owned up.
He was detained for seven days by transport police and will be sued for the expense.
The airline cancelled the flight so a full examination of the engine could be carried out.
The service resumed the following day.
Lucky Air said it caused major inconvenience to the other 161 passengers and cost the company about CNY140,000 (nearly £16,000).
Ouyang Jie, a professor at the Civil Aviation University of China, told local media a single coin embedded inside the engine during a flight could possibly destroy it.
"The engine could tremble, lose speed and even stop in midair if a coin were sucked into its core."
Several other incidents of throwing coins into aircraft engines have occurred in recent years.
An 80-year-old woman chucked coins into the engine of a China Southern Airline plane at Shanghai in 2017 which caused a five-hour delay and reportedly cost CNY1 million in damage.
She was not charged due to her age.
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025