It's not just picking up lost coins off the pavement that can bring you luck. According to popular Chinese belief, throwing coins can also bring you good luck!
But this did not prove very lucky for a Chinese passenger who will face criminal charges for throwing coins into an aeroplane's engine before takeoff at the Anqing Tianzhushan Airport in Anhui province.
Clearly, the airline being named 'Lucky Air' has not been of much help (The irony!). The incident came to light when security workers discovered two coins on the ground near the left-side engine of Lucky Air flight 8L9960 to Kunming.
The 28-year-old man, surnamed Lu, admitted to having thrown coins into the plane's engine for good luck, believing it would keep the flight safe.
The flight had to be cancelled since if a coin is sucked into the engine, it can cause engine failure, leading to serious safety hazards if the plane is in flight, engineers said in the report.
All 161 passengers -- not counting Lu who was detained -- had to wait until the following day to fly to Kunming.
According to reports, the airline said on Friday: "The incident caused a direct economic loss of nearly 140,000 yuan, and our company will press charges against the passenger in accordance with the law."
Lucky Air, a part of the Hainan Airlines group, has claimed that the incident resulted in 140,000 yuan ($20,000) in losses and has said that it plans to pursue legal action against Lu.
This is not the first time such an incident has occurred in China -- In 2017, a Lucky Air flight was cancelled after a 76-year-old woman threw coins at the engine for "good luck." In the same year, a China Southern Airlines flight was grounded for nearly six hours after an elderly woman passenger tossed nine coins at the engine, and one actually went in.