While we’re on the topic of praying for a safe flight/landing, one Chinese woman definitely took it to the next level.
According to Shanghai Daily, an elderly passenger caused quite a stir at the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai when she “performed” a little prayer of her own before boarding her China Southern Airlines flight.
The 80-year-old woman, surnamed Qiu, was spotted throwing some coins into the Airbus 320 aircraft’s engine, apparently to “pray for a safe flight”. Her actions resulted in a delay that lasted over 4 hours as the passengers were asked to get off in order to facilitate an inspection of the plane’s engine.
Mechanics fished out coins from the engine and in the end found 9 coins (1 coin in the engine, 8 around the engine) with a total value of 1.7 yuan. Although the metal pieces are tiny, they could’ve caused serious damage including engine failure if they were sucked up by the engine.
Once it was confirmed that China Southern Airlines’ flight CZ380 was safe to take off, the plane continued on its journey to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, albeit delayed by a couple of hours.
Qiu, a Buddhist, has now been placed under investigation by the airline, but she is said to have no criminal record or mental disease.
Source: Shanghai Daily, SCMP / Featured image: Shanghai Daily.
