China Southern Airlines passenger throws coins into plane's engine, causes 4-hour flight delay

A flight in China was delayed for four hours due to an unusual reason. As per reports, the flight from the southern city of Sanya to Beijing got delayed for over four hours after a passenger threw coins into its engine.

China Southern Airlines' Flight CZ8805 was scheduled to depart at 10 am, local time on March 6, reported CNN. Due to the incident, the flight finally took off at 2:16 pm, local time.

According to CNN, Chinese media outlets also released a video of the incident. In the video, a flight attendant is reportedly seen asking a passenger about the coins he threw in the engine. During the conversation, the passenger is heard saying that it was "three to five" coins. The identity of the flyer is not revealed.

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Following this, the passenger who allegedly threw the coins was taken off the flight by airport police, reported CNN, citing state media.

"The aircraft maintenance staff conducted a comprehensive safety inspection and determined that there were no safety issues before takeoff," the airline's customer service told state media, reported CNN. It was, however, not confirmed how many coins the airline staff recovered during the safety check.

China Southern Airlines later took to their official Weibo account to share a post regarding "uncivilised behaviours" of passengers, reported CNN. However, the airline didn't address the recent incident directly in their post. "Throwing coins at the plane pose a threat to aviation safety and will result in different levels of punishment," the airline wrote in their social media post.

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As per CNN, this is not the first time that Chinese airlines have faced the issue of passengers throwing coins into the engines of their planes. People have reportedly thrown coins at planes earlier for "good luck".

Last year in October, a China Southern Airlines plane was delayed due to the same reason, reported CNN. In 2021, a flight was cancelled after the airline staff discovered coins wrapped in red paper. In a similar incident in 2017, an elderly flyer was seen throwing coins at a China Southern Airlines plane while boarding the flight.