Man who threw 'lucky' coins into plane engine fined

From BBC News

3 January 2020

A Chinese man who was flying for the first time has been fined for throwing "good luck" coins into a plane's engine. The 28-year-old was ordered to pay $17,200 (£13,100) in compensation to the budget airline - called Lucky Air. The plane was grounded after the coins were found near one of its engines. Lu Chao admitted throwing the coins as he boarded an internal flight at Anqing Tianzhushan Airport in eastern China in February 2019. He appeared in court in July but the ruling was only recently made public. The flight was cancelled after staff spotted two 1 yuan coins on the ground near one of the plane's jet engines. Safety checks were carried out, leaving passengers stranded while replacement flights were arranged. Mr Lu was also detained by police for 10 days, charged with disturbing public order, but was made to pay compensation via a civil case.

In court, Lucky Air said the incident had cost it more than $17,600. Mr Lu argued in court that the airline should have warned passengers not to throw coins at planes. It's not the first time superstitious passengers have been caught throwing coins at plane engines. There have been a number of such cases in recent years, including an elderly passenger who delayed a flight in 2017.

[Lucky? I’m guessing not! Can you imagine the possibilities? I think it’d be a lot safer if they just flew with their fingers crossed if they’re that superstitious. Personally I find flying somewhat tedious rather than frightening. Funnily though a friend of mine hates flying (despite the fact that he’s travelled all over the world) and, as a joke, I started tapping on the side of the plane as we got on. I did this two or three times on our long holiday and then stopped. On our fourth flight he stopped me as we got on and essentially ordered me to tap before he would get on. But neither of us would even think about throwing coins into an engine – a fountain maybe, but not an engine!]