A woman was removed from a China Express Airlines flight after refusing to stow her luxury Louis Vuitton handbag under the seat, causing a one-hour delay, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
The incident occurred on a flight departing from Chongqing municipality to Hebei province. The woman, seated in economy class, insisted on keeping her $3,000 (P171,000) handbag next to her, instead of placing it under the seat as required by safety regulations. The flight, which had already started taxiing, had to return to the gate due to her refusal, disrupting not only the current flight but also subsequent departures.
The confrontation was captured on video by a fellow passenger and posted on the social media platform Douyin, where it quickly went viral, garnering over four million views and sparking widespread debate.
Police were eventually called to escort the woman off the plane, an action that was met with applause from the other passengers.
Social media reactions were mixed. Some users criticized the woman for prioritizing her handbag over safety, while others questioned the flight attendant’s handling of the situation. One Weibo user remarked, “She valued the bag more than her life,” while another on Douyin commented, “The flight attendant could have offered her a bag to put her handbag in. Is it really necessary to waste an hour and kick her off the plane?”
The airline did not issue a comment, and the woman’s identity remains undisclosed.