A flight in southern China severely delayed after a passenger threw coins into the aircraft engine.

The video filmed in Sanya City in Hainan Province on March 6, shows cabin crew members on Southern Airlines Flight CZ8805 from China’s Sanya to Beijing explaining the situation to the passengers.

According to reports, the flight was delayed for more than 4 hours as a passenger threw coins into the aircraft engine.

Southern Airlines responded on March 7th that the involved passenger has been taken away by airport police for investigation.

They explained further, "after finding about the coins, to ensure flight safety, the aircraft underwent a comprehensive safety inspection by maintenance personnel, and only after confirming no safety hazards did it depart, resulting in a delay of 246 minutes from the scheduled time."

It is understood that besides facing detention by the police, the person who threw coins into the aircraft may also be liable for compensation from the airline.

If coins are sucked into the core part of the engine, they may collide with the high-speed rotating blades, potentially causing engine failure or even a catastrophe.

When aircraft personnel are aware of coins entering the engine, they must ground the aircraft for inspection. If the number and location of the coins are unknown, or if the coins are too close to the inner part, some engine components may need to be removed for inspection, incurring costs of tens of thousands of yuan.

The video was provided by local media with permission.

3月6日，由三亚飞往北京的南方航空CZ8805次航班，因有乘客向飞机投掷硬币 ，导致飞机延误4个多小时。
3月7日，南航方面回应称，涉事旅客目前已被机场公安带走调查 。
航旅纵横App显示，CZ8805次航班原计划于3月6日上午10时从三亚凤凰机场起飞，13时40分到达北京大兴机场。该航班实际起飞时间为当日14时17分， 17时36分抵达北京。南方航空客服介绍，当时机务人员发现有旅客往飞机投掷硬币， 此次航班延误属“公共安全”问题 。
南方航空客服介绍，“找到硬币后，为保障飞行安全，机务人员对飞机做了全面安全检查，确定没有安全隐患才起飞，比计划时间延误了246分钟。”
据了解，向飞机投掷硬币，当事者除了要面临被警方拘留的处罚外，还可能被航空公司索赔。据介绍，硬币如果被吸入发动机核心部位，很可能会与发动机高速转动的叶片发生碰撞，极易导致发动机失速，甚至停止运转，从而酿成惨剧。相关工作人员知道有硬币进入飞机发动机后，必须停飞检查。如果不知道硬币的数量和位置，或者硬币的位置太靠近内侧，只能拆除发动机部分零件进行检查操作，这个过程产生的费用可能会有几万元。