Passengers ground Chinese flight by throwing ‘lucky’ coins at plane – yet again
- Incident is the fourth in two years, this time involving two women believed to be in their twenties
- The ritual is believed to bring good luck, but in this case the passengers ended up in detention
Two young Chinese women have been detained on suspicion of tossing coins at a plane they were boarding for good luck, making this the fourth confirmed case in two years.
The Lucky Air flight, which was due to depart from an airport in Jinan in Shandong province on Sunday, was delayed for two hours after they threw the coins into the air while boarding, the carrier said in a statement on Monday.
The ritual is supposed to ensure a safe journey.
The plane, which was travelling to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, eventually took off soon after 10pm when the coins were found underneath the boarding steps.
“After a check by the captain, we excluded the possibility of the coins entering the engine since the gap between the plane and the boarding gate was narrow and far away from the engine,” the airline said.
“About an hour after boarding the aircraft, two policemen came and took away two women, who appeared to be in their twenties,” a fellow passenger told the PearVideo website.