Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/06/28/3-coins-in-the-engine.html
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I linked to this just the other day.
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Not the right way to go about appeasing the gods of sky and steel. They prefer sandwiches and blood sacrifice.
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That’s a really beautiful sound. Reminds me of the sound of Pachinko machines.
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So the picture of the flaming husk of a retired plane has nothing to do with the story… the actual consequence of this was “some people had to get the coins back out.”
Edit, source:
Edit again: Story has been rearranged and picture clarified; thanks.
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which prohibit behavior that could jeopardize the safety of the flight.
Yeah, can we all agree that’s a good thing…
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Yeah, I object to this. If an editor wants to post a news story with a pic that isn’t of what happened, clarify in the caption if the pic would likely be mistaken for what’s being reported on. Otherwise, this becomes tabloid news, and the excuse of “it was a joke” isn’t going to cut it if the joke isn’t apparent.
I’d think this would be of particular interest given the recent role fake news is held to have played in US politics. Establishing a reputation as a reliably non-distortive source (and clearly distinguished/distingishable humor and opinion embellishments are fine) is of crucial value. In this case, to figure this out, one has to wade through the details of the article. Not good.
EDIT: Photos have now been changed; lead/first photo now shows no flames; secondary photo with flames now has caption (“Projected outcome”).
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I bet her Sesame Credit score just dropped like a … coin that falls a lot.
Those who fall short will be denied basic freedoms like loans or travel
Okay, problem solved!
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Yeah, I was going “Holy shit!” because I could totally see that a thrown coin might cause havoc.
I agree. It’s hard to defend the media against idiots yelling “fake news” when pictures like this crop up. The idiots sort of have a point.
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However from her point of view, not throwing good luck coins into the engine would be jeopardizing the flight. What a dilemma.
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The delay most likely prevented the collision that would have happened if they took off on time.
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I guess there’s been a massive explosion at the old humorless-pearl-clutch factory
Yea.
We only have one data point at this time – so we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions – but at this point it seems like throwing coins into jet engines prevents accidents (but can cause delays).
We’ll need to keep an eye open for more data!
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On the other hand, this progression from illustrating the potential danger" to “fake news” pretty well demonstrates what can happen even when the editors aren’t moustache twirling villains from a vaudville morality play.
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I wonder if you saw the original article? It was a different picture (from the same irrelevant source), with no explanation or context, and it was placed first (so it was the thumbnail on the main page). Only by reading the linked source news story could you figure out that the plane didn’t burst into flames.
Furthermore, there was no indication in either the linked article or the one at Dyess AFB that suggested that coins in an engine would (or wouldn’t) cause fire; only that it “could have caused serious damage, including failure”. There’s no basis for the (newly added) comment that it’s a “projected outcome.”
Now I’ve typed more about this than I ever intended to, thus demonstrating my complete lack of humor 
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I assume that this is why Zen and the Art of CFM56 Maintenance is vastly the less popular title? (Possibly IAE V2500 Maintenance, same lack of popularity)
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So, when’s the album coming out?
Shanghai is such a crappy airport. Won’t fly there again.
Oh, was that no relevant?
In 100% of fatal plane crashes to date, passengers failed to throw coins in the engine for blessings.
Check and mate.
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