Chinese Airlines Warn Passengers Not To Do 'Rual' Throw Coins On Plane

Illustration of the China Southern Airlines fleet of aircraft. (Wikimedia Commons/Jacky Cheung)

JAKARTA - Airlines from China warn passengers not to throw coins on the plane, after a number of incidents related to it caused flight delays.

A flight in China was delayed by more than four hours on Wednesday after a passenger threw coins into the machine, according to Chinese state media.

China Southern Airlines CZ8805 flights were originally scheduled to take off from southern city of Sanya to Beijing at around 10 a.m. local time on March 6. However, the plane just took off around 14:16 p.m. local time, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24 and Flight Aware.

In a video shared by several state media, a flight attendant can be seen questioning a passenger who is believed to have thrown the coin, asking how many coins were thrown into the machine.

The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed in the video or by state media, was heard on camera saying "three to five" coins, as reported by CNN March 7.

Passengers suspected of throwing the coin were then taken away by airport police, state media reported, citing Chinese Southern Airlines.

The airline said the coins were found during security checks, but did not specify how many coins were found.

"The aircraft maintenance staff conducted a comprehensive safety inspection and ensured there were no safety concerns before takeoff," the airline's customer service said.

China Southern Airlines issued a warning against "uncivilized behavior" on China's official Weibo social media account on Wednesday, saying "throwing coins at the plane is a threat to aviation safety and will result in various levels of punishment."

However, the upload did not directly refer to the incident.

Previously, a similar incident where people threw coins on the plane, apparently for the sake of "lucky" has also occurred in recent years in China.

Last October, China Southern Airlines flights experienced delays in Guangzhou after a passenger was seen throwing coins at the plane. In 2021, GX Airlines flights between Weifang and Haikou were canceled when several coins wrapped in red paper were found on the ground.

And in 2017, an elderly passenger threw a coin at a Chinese Southern Airlines plane while boarding a plane at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, arguing that it was a prayer for a safe flight.