Flying can be a nerve-wracking experience for many, especially for first-time flyers who have no idea what to expect when they’re airborne. Many flyers are known to be superstitious about certain habits and customs that they believe will bring them good luck during a journey. Unfortunately, not all pre-flight habits of passengers are safe. Some can cause panic and also lead to physical damages to the aircraft. That’s exactly what happened in 2021 when a passenger hoping to fly with some good luck ended up responsible for the cancellation of the flight. At Weifang Airport in Shandong, China, a passenger, identified only as Mr. Wang, was scheduled to fly from Weifang to Haiku on Beibu Gulf Airlines flight GX8814 when he threw a handful of coins into the engine. Fortunately, airline personnel were alerted after the ground crew found the coins on the tarmac during the pre-flight inspection. Wang admitted to having thrown 6 coins wrapped in red paper into the plane’s engine. All of the coins were recovered, but the airline chose to cancel the flight due to safety concerns. All 148 passengers were forced to wait for another flight until the next morning. Wang was detained by police.
