It’s only a Louis Vuitton bag, but a Chinese passenger onboard a flight departing from Chongqing refused to place it under the seat in front of her for take off. She and her expensive 包包 (baobao, bag) were escorted out of the aircraft to cheers from the rest of the cabin

Nothing could come between she and her LV Monogram bag. For all the others on the flight, bags were not to share a seat with the passenger during take off, but one Chinese woman would not have it that way. She kept it by her side, well away from the two options availed to her. When the flight attendant told her to place her identifiable bag under the seat in front of her, she refused to oblige, causing a reported one hour delay to the take off, before she was kicked off the plane by airport security personnel. With her obstinacy as strong as her bag was unmoved, the captain of the flight had to take drastic action. According to Chinese media, the aircraft returned to the gate so that the uncooperative passenger could be forcibly deplaned.

The incident in Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport (重庆江北国际机场) aboard China Express Airlines on 10 August came to light when a video of the unnamed woman’s determination and her subsequent removal from the flight was shared on Douyin (抖音) by a fellow passenger. The post has attracted more than 4 million views so far. From the reel, the headstrong woman was seated in the middle of the window side of the aircraft—in the economy section. Her barely-clear LV bag (it was not ascertained if it was real or not) was placed on her side, next to the arm rest. A flight attendant apparently told her to remove it. It is not certain how often the passenger was told to. Or, why she refused to comply. In the video, she was seen busy with her phone. She wanted her bag to be noticeable, not obscured somewhere down there. When she finally left with the aviation police, many stood up to film her. Cheers and claps could be heard.

With air turbulence a very real weather phenomenon and severe turbulence affecting flights, such as the Singapore Airlines plane flying from London to our island last May (an elderly passenger died), it would serve all onboard to heed the instructions of the flight attendants. The crew usually conducts more than one check to ensure that all bags are under the seat in front of the passenger or in the overhead storage. Women carrying small bags may think it is safe for them to hold their bag in their lap or by their side, but it isn’t. And how often have we seen those who place their bag under the front seat retrieve them as soon as the flight attendants have buckled up in their crew seats or when the plane takes off? When turbulence strikes, a bag on a seat or laps can be a dangerous, expensive, monogrammed projectile.

Illustration: Just So