Beijing, March 9: Southern Airlines aircraft CZ8805 from China experienced an unusual occurrence that caused a stressful four-hour delay. The flight from the southern city of Sanya to Beijing was originally scheduled to take off on March 6 at 10 am local time. Still, it was delayed when a Chinese passenger allegedly threw pennies into the engine of the plane. According to CNN, in the video of the incident, the passenger who is accused of tossing coins into the engine was being questioned by the flight attendant of aircraft CZ8805 regarding the quantity of coins that were thrown.

On camera, the passenger acknowledged that he put "three to five" pennies into the engine, delaying the departure of the aircraft. Chinese Southern Airlines said that, in accordance with state media, airport police removed the flier after the confession. Air China Flight Makes Emergency Landing on Singapore Airport Runway After Plane’s Engine Catches Fire, Video Shows Cabin Filled With Smoke and Terrified Passengers.

“The aircraft maintenance staff conducted a comprehensive safety inspection and determined that there were no safety issues before take-off”, the airlines told the local media in an official statement.  Finally, at 2:16 PM, the aeroplane departed for Beijing, according to flight-tracking websites Flightradar24 and aeroplane Aware. Later, on March 6, China Southern Airlines posted a warning against "uncivilised behaviours" on Weibo, their official social media account. The warning stated, "Throwing coins at the plane poses a threat to aviation safety and will result in different levels of punishment." China-Bound Mahan Air Flight With ‘Bomb Threat’ Now Out of Indian Airspace, Confirms IAF.

Notably, tossing coins on or around an aircraft for "good luck" has resulted in the arrest of a flier before. Similar occurrences have happened in China recently, which has frustrated other passengers and crew members and caused delays. In October 2023, a passenger was spotted tossing coin towards a China Southern Airlines aircraft, causing a delay in the departure from Guangzhou.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 09, 2024 09:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).