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Elderly flight passenger throws coins into engine for ‘luck’, delays take-off for hours

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A flight from Shanghai to Guangzhou was delayed after an elderly woman passenger was suspected of throwing coins into the plane’s engine to ensure “good luck”, mainland media reported. (www.scmp.com) More...

frank1711
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frank1711
frank1711 27
I giggled at this longer than I probably should have. Obviously, could've been a serious incident. (still laughing)
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jstutman
jstutman 7
same here. guilty as charged. :)
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djames225
djames225 7
Looks like we are all flying in the same craft, Frank...glad it was discovered thou or Confucius saying of "Man and woman who may fly upside down, will have crack up" may have occurred
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hmausfr
Henry Miller 9
Confucius say: Man who walk sideways through airport going to Bangkok.
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djames225
djames225 2
Confucius also say "Man who enter aircraft sideways, going to Bangkok"
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JacobAccurso
Jacob Accurso 1
Awesome.
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djames225
djames225 1
Not for man who walk through airport or enter aircraft sideways...maybe he wanted to go to Bangdong instead.
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joelwiley
joel wiley 2
Thought that was dingdong.
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djames225
djames225 1
No..he was a dingdong from Bangdong that ended up going to Bangkok because "He walk sideways"...confused confucius
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millcreek134
CAROLE GRALIA -2
REALLY????????????????????? MILE HIGH CLUB OPEN FOR BUSINESS!
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royhunte92
Roy Hunte 7
ROTFLMAO
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SWA4420
Jim Blake 6
Yeah, same here, hahaha!
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paul8626
Paul Smith 3
I laughed at this while shaking my head in disbelief.
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avihais
Martin Haisman 2
Ummmmmmm YEP
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millcreek134
CAROLE GRALIA 1
UMMMMMMMMMMMMMM NOPE !
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sparkie624
sparkie624 3
I guess I am not the good humor guy here... Knowing what could happen if that had not been picked up on could have had deadly circumstances... In the US that could be a chargeable offense!
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joelwiley
joel wiley 1
WWPS?
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sparkie624
sparkie624 0
??WWPS?? Guess I am too old for that Acyronym?
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bbabis
bbabis 8
My guess is, what would preacher say? Always a good thought on any subject.
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sparkie624
sparkie624 3
I like that one... What ever he would have said, it would have been right for the time.
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Dontkeepthis
Bill Rehrmann 0
What would PILOT say!! You stoopid, stoopid, stoopid
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millcreek134
CAROLE GRALIA -2
YOU GOT IT
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millcreek134
CAROLE GRALIA -3
I'M WITH YOU SPARKY. NOT FUN NOR FUNNY. MANY SOULD RIDE ON THAT BIRD AND ONLY HOPE TO GO TO OR FROM THEIR HOME IN SAFETY AND THE PLEASURE OF FLIGHT. WE OWE MUCH TO THE MANY GREAT PILOTS WHO WORK CRAZY HOURS TO HAUL US WHERE EVER. CUDOS TO YOU MEN.
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AWAAlum
AWAAlum 7
Or maybe just "kudos" since it's both genders?
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joelwiley
joel wiley 31
Whether I should be amused or aghast is a coin-toss.
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djames225
djames225 6
Just be glad that didnt flip them on their heads
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scott8733
scott8733 9
Perhaps the woman saw this as a horizontal wishing well. That theory 's still up in the air.
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TorstenHoff
Torsten Hoff 11
:facepalm:
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bhowardbwc
Buddy Howard 9
Obviously airline tickets in China aren't expensive enough, they left a passenger with change.
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millcreek134
CAROLE GRALIA -2
OUCH !
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zcolescott
Zachary Colescott 9
I'm sure she was wishing her flight would be delayed a little bit, so she could enjoy more time at the airport, lol
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bobhirst
Robert Hirst 4
And so she did. She didn't make the flight.
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bbabis
bbabis 8
Now they may be onto something here. They could encourage all passengers to throw as much money as they want into the engines for luck. The more money the better the luck. They could even delay flights because they don't have enough luck yet. This could be an easy revenue stream and a small additional duty of the FO to collect all additional revenue before engine start. <grin>
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millcreek134
CAROLE GRALIA -9
GO BACK TO SLEEP BILL !
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bbabis
bbabis 13
Is the light burned out on your caps lock key?
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WALLACE24
WALLACE24 3
Probably doesn't limit screaming to the net.
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djames225
djames225 2
Is the power even on??
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CaptainFreedom
CaptainFreedom 5
I can't wait for the SNL skit on this one.
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ran3114
ran3114 5
"Three Coins in the Fountain," modern version!
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millcreek134
CAROLE GRALIA -3
E-GADS !
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leonkay
Leon Kay 4
Amazing how superstitious many people are, like this lady tossing coins into the engine for good luck. I also find it amusing that aircraft don’t have a row 13. Should that plane crash there are seldom ANY survivors, regardless in which row you were seated. My wife and I once caught a flight on Friday 13th where they offered 50% discount. The plane was still only half full, whereas during the return flight on Sunday it was completely full.
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ericschminke
Eric Schminke 1
Superstitions don't phase me at all. Back in 1981 and 1982, I flew on 2 American DC-10s. On both flights the seat I was assigned was 13J. Moreover, the flight taken in 1982 was on July 13th. Both flights were excellent. (Remember the American DC-10 crash at O'Hare had occurred on May 25th, 1979.) What continues to amaze me even more is how gullible people are. Examples: Thinking that $999.99 is so much less than $1,000. Gas prices advertised to 0.9 of a cent. (Which has been done seemingly forever.) $1.99 9/10. Just make it $2.00 and be done with it.
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millcreek134
CAROLE GRALIA -9
13 HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FLIGHT. YOUR SAFETY RIDES ON THE PILOT AND CO-PILOT. END OF STORY
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AWAAlum
AWAAlum 6
Actually, safety rides on a lot more people than that ... rather, it's an enormous team of people.
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sparkie624
sparkie624 5
With out shouting, lets add good maintenance to that list.... You can have the best pilot and co-pilot in the world, but if your control cables start snaping and your engines fall off the Best Pilots in the world are there for nothing more than a good ride and to narrate how the crash is going down for the CVR (if it is still working.).... Even though I do not fly them I fix them and play a huge role in keeping them safe and keeping the equipment working so the pilots and co-pilots can do their job
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tjperez927
Tony Perez 4
It will bring them luck alright....BAD luck!
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bigbill3111
bigbill3111 3
China......Animals all over the world are suffering and being killed because of that nutcase bunch of superstitious country inhabitants. Bears are killed for their gall bladders, elephants are killed for the ivory, dogs are killed to be eaten, many boiled alive, etc. Now because of superstition, people could have died. If you read the links on the article, it tells of all the other stupid stuff they have done on planes.
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krs
Bob Poberezny -1
And rhinos almost extinct because of that same goddamn stupidity.
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sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Language... Sometimes Young eyes nay view!
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ericschminke
Eric Schminke 3
Why can't the media be specific on time frames? If they know the flight was delayed for 5 hours then state it in the headlines. If an American had pulled a stunt like this in the U.S. one could easily respond with this comment: "Throwing coins into an engine of an aircraft sure made a lot of 'cents'."
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davidbew
David Bew 2
How the Heck was she allowed to get close enough to the Running Jet Engine to do THAT???
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djames225
djames225 1
A: the engine was off, otherwise there would have been a HUGE catastrophe B: It was in China so who knows who dropped the ball to allow her to get that close.
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joelwiley
joel wiley 1
I think they were boarding by stairs to the front door. 9 coins, one in the engine.
Just one more item on the FO's preflight walk-around.
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Dl8698
David Loh 1
Errr...the engine was NOT running. To board while an engine is running is very rare. It has happened before. On landing APU could not start. The station did not have a air starter. So left engine was kept running. Boarding was from right side door. Pax and cargo were hurriedly loaded and flight went on its way.
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sparkie624
sparkie624 0
Usually the only time that you will board an a/c with the engine running is if the APU and the Ground Power is deferred. I have had 2 a/c setup like that. We usually get them out of service and repaired quickly. When that deferral combination is on the aircraft you usually run the engine on the non boarding side of the a/c... BTW, Fuelers really hate fueling a/c with the engines running from some reason and rampers aren't much better!
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Dl8698
David Loh 1
Ground power defered? You mean that big huge noisy machine running on wheels from which you struggle to attach that horribly heavy cable to the aircraft? Airbus 320, 330, B737 refuel on the right side.
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sparkie624
sparkie624 0
Yes... When the engine mounted on the wings, you leave the right engine running to unload and load the passengers (and baggage depending on which side the baggage doors are on) and then you cross bleed start the left engine to fuel, water service, etc, and then again you cross bleed start the right engine to board the a/c. This is a 100% legal deferral situation and I have personally assigned it once. No one likes it and even though it is a legal 10 day deferral most are routed in by the end of the day to get one or the other fixed.

It is slightly different on on different a/c. but you have to battery start the a/c engine using the ignition system that is powered off the battery and then you air start the engine. WOrks great, but as stated for obvious reason, no one likes this DFRL.

Believe me I know the Ground Power and yes the Heavy Noisy Generator on Wheels. You can legal fuel a plane with that engine running, but there are (as you can imagine) safety concerns and it does get a little breezy for the baggage handlers and anyone driving behind the plane :)
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BoomerFrom47
BoomerFrom47 2
It would be interesting to know if this lady had ever been on a flight before. If so, did she do this every time? Superstitions are deep throughout Asia. Combined with ignorance they can be dangerous.
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krs
Bob Poberezny 0
They think gall bladders of bears make them get big peepees.
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joecoastie
joecoastie 2
Maybe add a third/fourth dummy engine as a wishing well for the extra revenue.
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dral6503
Ed Berling 2
I guess passengers in China get close enough to the engines to inspect them before take off? Pictures online showed the mechanic with a handful (at least a dozen) of coins that they'd pulled out of the engine.
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paul8626
Paul Smith 3
Did the mechanic keep the money as a bonus?
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millcreek134
CAROLE GRALIA -4
SO MUCH FOR SECURITY THERE
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AZAFVET
Wayne Fox 2
If you read the other articles about passengers acting badly onboard aircraft you just have to wonder whether recent stories about Americans behaving badly might have influenced the Chinese. Probably not but what the heck is going on with people? These passengers should stick to China's high speed rail.
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turnerfam9
Fran Turner 1
Delays take hours? Tow the plane to the hangar and take 5he engine down. Replace the flight with another, in the meantime. Should take no more 5han an hour.
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SorenTwin
SorenTwin 1
Fortunate that someone noticed her doing it. Otherwise.....
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jcsjcs
jcsjcs 1
So, did they find any coins, or did the other passenger just imagine seeing her throwing coins at the engine. I seem to have missed that detail in the article...
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bigbill3111
bigbill3111 1
They have pictures with the cowlings off the engine and a handful of coins.
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Wingrat
Wingrat 1
What a quaint custom. I suppose the coins are a bit harsh on the engine. Good thing she didn't chuck a lucky black cat into the engine. I can't help myself is this a WTF or a SOL moment.
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sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Careful what you say... PETA will be on your door step at any moment!
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Dl8698
David Loh 1
Google "throwing coins for good luck" You will find that it is not strictly a Chinese superstition. As far as superstitions go non Chinese are just as superstitious. I am sure we have seen hotels without floor 13 and aircraft with no seat 13. For info of non Chinese, 13 is NOT considered unlucky. In Chinese 13 sounds like "sure to live". 14 is considered unlucky by Chinese cos it sounds like "sure to die".
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paultrubits
paul trubits 1
We throw coins into fish ponds. Not good for the fish.
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sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Most certainly... A few good examples: Black Cats, Lucky charms, rabbits foot.... And the list goes on, and Airline Pilots have many of there own, of one being to keep a picture of their family in their hats to keep a watch for them while they are flying.
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joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Salt over the left shoulder, not in the wound. Bless you after a sneeze to ward off the devil.
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Jaime1949
Jaime Terrassa 1
I agree with Soarkie its' not funny I imagine if you or your love ones were on that flight and God forbid something happened one would be asking for a easy pay check.
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sunsethybiscus47
PAMELA JAMES 1
'ROTS A RUCK'
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dbtinc
Jim Capone 1
not the least bit entertaining. All the while it appears no one interfered with this old fool.
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Dl8698
David Loh 3
I am going to interfere with you and ask that you do not call an old lady a "fool". Ignorant, superstitious, yes. Seriously, the news report says she threw the coins from the middle of the boarding staircase. So if she was clutching the coins in her hand while boarding, it took mere seconds for her to hurl the coins towards the left engine. I don't think anyone had enough time to stop her.
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millcreek134
CAROLE GRALIA -5
GOOD GRIEF PEOPLE WHAT NEXT?
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yakc130
Doug Zalud 6
Good grief. Quit shouting!

Even though China is a large, nuclear armed country with a huge industrial base, it is still a third world Communist nation full of very backward and superstitious people.
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sunsethybiscus47
PAMELA JAMES -4
CAPS COME IN HANDY ...WHEN YOU HAVE AN ASTIGMATISM! RELAX!
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joelwiley
joel wiley 4
I do. Caps lock key has never been the answer for it for me.

On many boards, including this one, all caps is considered shouting and not not in good form for normal conversation. Perhaps you 7 C. Gralia were unfamiliar with this, as none of the comments from either of you contain a single lower case letter.
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lsharpe69
lsharpe69 -3
Naval Aviators call this FOD. How does a pax get this close to an intake anyway? Only in China!

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