Couple miss flight, squat under plane with luggage to prevent it from taking off

A couple who reportedly missed their flight took an extreme step to prevent another aircraft from taking off by squatting on the runway with their luggage. The husband and wife were supposed to embark on an Air China flight from Beijing Capital International Airport, China to the eastern port city of Shanghai at 9:30am on Saturday but arrived at the boarding gate after it had already closed, according to Mirror.co.uk.

It is said that the wife dragged her husband through the gate while ‘knocking down’ several employees in the process. The couple, who have not been identified, then dashed onto the runway with their bags and ran towards the plane before it began taxing. The woman was even pictured squatting down underneath the plane as she tried to plead with officials to allow her and her partner to board it. Her husband was also seen ‘sitting’ beneath the plane with his luggage, local media reported.

They were finally arrested after 20 minutes and received administrative detention apart from being fined 500RMB (£57). The pair had told officials that they missed their plane because were not informed of Flight CA1519's boarding time. However, they were proved to be wrong after it was discovered that their boarding passes stated both the boarding and take-off times.