Ahhh no. An elderly Chinese lady boarding an aircraft in Shanghai threw a few coins in the engine for “blessings” and accidentally delayed the flight by about five hours.
It’s being reported that the 80-year-old woman, surnamed Qiu, threw nine coins at the engine. Eight of them missed, but one landed inside, leading to the evacuation of 150 passengers while aviation engineers conducted a full examination on the engine.
The South China Morning Post reports that the woman, who was travelling with her husband, daughter and son-in-law, was taken away for questioning.
Police later shared their findings from the engine, which amounted to a single coin with the value of about 1.7 yuan ($0.33).
China Southern Flight 380 was delayed at Shanghai Pudong Int’l Airport on Tues after an elderly woman threw coins into the engine for luck.. pic.twitter.com/wSSWJg9bcE
— Flight (@flightorg) June 27, 2017
“After an investigation the involved passenger, surnamed Qiu, said she threw the coins to pray for safety. According to Qiu’s neighbour, Qiu believes in Buddhism,” police said on Weibo.
According to the BBC, news of the woman’s misstep spread on Weibo, with one user commenting: “Grandma, this is not a wish fountain with turtles.”
The flight eventually took off, landing at its destination of Guangzhou five hours late – and all because the lady had just tried to make sure the thing actually landed.
