The departure of China Southern Flight 380 was delayed on Tuesday after an 80-year-old woman wanted a little reassurance that her flight would be safe. While reports of her accuracy vary, the woman allegedly threw nine coins at the engine of the Airbus A320 twin-jet and that led to airline personnel evacuating the entire plane over concerns that a coin could have been sucked into the engine and caused “serious damage.”
“A senior passenger threw coins to the plane’s engine and delayed the flight,” the airline explained on social media. “The passenger involved has been taken away by police. In order to make sure the flight is safe, China Southern maintenance has conducted a full exam of the plane’s engine.”
The woman, who police eventually learned is Buddhist, was traveling with her husband, daughter and son-in-law. Another passenger spotted her throwing the coins from the boarding staircase and immediately told airline personnel. According to the BBC, she landed only one of her nine coins in the engine. However, the South China Morning Post reports that nine coins hit the target. Regardless, the threat was enough to delay the flight’s departure from Shanghai Pudong International Airport five hours.
The airplane eventually made it to its destination, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, with no other reported incidents.
