Coins thrown into plane engine by elderly passenger for 'luck'

bbc.com

15 points·azuajef··9 comments

Open articleView on HN

Hadn't noticed up until now that getting near the plane engines during boarding isnt all that difficult.

Would this call for more regulations?

Perhaps security posted by the plane? With resulting higher prices per ticket to pay for said security.

Could repurpose some of the TSA staff, and push one in every now and again for luck (and reduced costs).

If we start down this path, we'll have to have a government bod give our cars a once over before we drive anywhere.

> She told police she launched the coins [into the airplane's engine] as she "prayed for safety" on Tuesday.

Seems a bit counter intuitive to me

But for christ's sake, I hope these god damned engines can handle an amount of coin-sized pebbles or gravel swept up into the intake by fortuitous air currents.

Not really. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_object_damage

You're asking a lot of nickel alloy blades turning at 15k-19k rpms.

They test them for bird strikes https://youtu.be/_jfXX7qppbc

But I guess a small piece of metal might do more damage

"The engine does not have to remain functional after the test, but it must not cause significant damage to the rest of the aircraft. " oh

Point being that most aircraft can fly just fine with one of its engines disabled.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com