List of wheel-well stowaway flights

Wheel well of a Boeing 747

This page lists known flights with stowaways, who for various reasons traveled inside the wheel well (landing gear compartment, also known as wheel bay). As of January 2014, there were 103 such attempts on 92 flights recorded by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration since 1947, 23.3% of which were successful.[1] In at least one instance, on July 31, 2013, a cat survived a flight from Athens to Zürich in the front undercarriage of an Airbus A321.[2]

A wheel-well stowaway typically faces two life-threatening conditions during flight: hypoxia and hypothermia.[3] Physiological threats for a stowaway are minimal at altitudes to 2,440 m (8,000 ft), but at higher altitudes reduced atmospheric pressure and partial pressure of oxygen may exert influence.[3] At all cruising altitudes of jet aircraft, the partial pressure of oxygen in a wheel well is below that required to support brain consciousness.[3] At altitudes above 6,100 m (20,000 ft) stowaways may also develop decompression sickness and nitrogen gas embolism.[3] But as a wheel-well stowaway is carried to lower altitudes, a gradual rewarming and reoxygenation occur.[3]

Date Stowaway(s) Flight Aircraft Stowaway's fate
August 7, 1946 Bas Wie, 12 Kupang–Darwin Douglas DC-3 Survived, naturalised in Australia in 1958 and married[4]
August 5, 1947 Male, 30 Lisbon–Natal Douglas DC-3 Survived[5]
September 28, 1966 Male, 17 Bogotá–Mexico City Colombian jet airliner Survived at 34,000 ft[5]
April 18, 1966 Unidentified man, about 24 Moscow–Paris Died[6]
April 19, 1966 Unknown youth, 20/21 Orly–Morocco Air France Sud Aviation Caravelle Died (froze)[5]
June 4, 1969 Armando Socarras Ramirez, 17, Jorge Perez Blanco, 16 Havana–Madrid
(Iberia Flight 904)		 Douglas DC-8 Ramirez survived, Blanco died[7]
July 26, 1969 Male, 17 and a second unknown Havana–Madrid Douglas DC-8 One survived, second fell to death[5]
June 21, 1970 Male, 13 Lyon–Abidjan Douglas DC-8 Died (fell at Abidjan when landing gear lowered)[5]
February 24, 1970 Keith Sapsford, 14 Sydney–Tokyo Douglas DC-8 Died (fell from 200 ft on takeoff)[5]
April 14, 1972 Male, 18 San Diego–New York City Boeing 707 Died (froze)[5]
March 23, 1975 Unknown youth Bogotá–Miami Boeing 707 Died (fell)[5]
November 14, 1986 Male, 35 Panama–Miami Boeing 707 Survived at 39,000 ft[5]
February 19, 1990 2 men from Trinidad Trinidad–Toronto BWIA West Indies Airways Lockheed L1011 Both survived 5 hour flight[8]
June 4, 1993 Male, 13 Bogotá–Miami Douglas DC-8 Survived at 35,000 ft, but frosted[5]
August 4, 1993 Male, 19 Bogotá–New York City Boeing 747 Died[9]
1995 Unknown migrant worker To Shanghai Boeing 747 Died (froze and fell during landing at Pudong International Airport)[10]
August 2, 1996 Two Mongolian boys, about 9 and 12 Ulan Bator–Kadena Air Base U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-141B One survived, the other one about 12 years old died[11]
October 14, 1996 Pardeep Saini, 22, Vijay Saini, 19 New Delhi–London Boeing 747 Pardeep survived in the nose wheel well at 35,000 ft,[9] Vijay died[12]
March 22, 1997 Male, adolescent Nairobi–London Boeing 747 Died[9]
1998 Trevor Jacobs, 30 Antigua–Trinidad McDonnell Douglas MD-80 Died (Trevor Jacobs was wanted on several criminal charges, including kidnapping)[13]
February 7, 1998 Unknown male Baku–London
(British Airways Flight 2028)		 Boeing 767 Died, body discovered upon arrival to Gatwick Airport on February 8[14]
July 28, 1998 Chinese male, 23 Shanghai–Tokyo Boeing 747 Survived, but hospitalized in critical condition[15]
September 14, 1998 Emilio Dominguez, 23 San Pedro Sula–Miami
(Iberia Flight 6130)		 McDonnell Douglas DC-9 Survived at 33,000 ft, traveled seeking work,[16] but was returned to Honduras
July 28, 1999 Yaguine Koita and Fodé Tounkara Conakry–Brussels
(Sabena Flight 520)		 Airbus A330 Both died (froze)[17]
August 4, 2000 Fidel Maruhi, 24 Papeete–Los Angeles–Paris
(Air France Flight 71)		 Boeing 747-400 Survived at 38,000 ft.[18] Discovered during a refueling stopover in Los Angeles, Maruhi later told, that the main motive behind his travel to France was to "shake hands" with Zinedine Zidane.[19][20]
June 2001 Mohammed Ayaz, 21 Muharraq–London Boeing 777 Died (traveled to London due to job hardships in Pakistan and Bahrain)[21]
August 7, 2001 Unknown male London–New York City
(American Airlines Flight 131)		 Boeing 777 Died (fell from 1,500 ft on approach to John F. Kennedy International Airport)[22]
September, 2001 Mikhail Semenyaga, 24 Perm–Yekaterinburg–Frankfurt Died[23]
December 24, 2001 Alberto Rodriguez, 15, Maikel Almira, 16 Havana–London Boeing 777 Both died (planned hiding on a flight to Miami)[24]
July 2002 Cameroonian male, 34 Rio de Janeiro–Paris
(Air France flight)		 Died[25]
December, 2002 Victor Alvarez Molina, 24 Havana–Montreal McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Survived, received a refugee status in Canada[26]
December 5, 2002 Two boys, 12 and 14 Accra–London McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Both died[27]
January 11, 2003 Mariano Alexis Herrera-Ba, Punta Cana International Airport technician Punta Cana–Toronto Airbus A320 Died[28]
January 23, 2003 Two unidentified men Paris–Shanghai
(Air France Flight 112)		 Boeing 777 Both died (fell on approach to Pudong International Airport)[29]
February 25, 2003 Unknown male Mali or Gabon–Paris? Died (fell near Paris)[30]
March 25, 2003 Unknown male, 19 To Frankfurt Died[31]
December 24, 2003 Unknown male, about 25 Montego Bay–New York City Died[32]
December 30, 2003 Unknown male, 30s Lagos–London–New York City
(British Airways Flight 117)		 Boeing 747 Died (body found upon arrival to John F. Kennedy International Airport)[33]
July 21, 2004 Unknown male, 20 Dominican Republic–Düsseldorf Died (froze)[30]
October 22, 2004 Unknown male, 20s Miami–Detroit Boeing 737[34] Died[35]
November 11, 2004 Liang Kailong, 14, Su Qing, 13 Kunming–Chongqing Airbus A320 Liang survived, Su died (fell shortly after takeoff)[10]
November 16, 2004 Unknown Mali–Paris Died[30]
November 30, 2004 Unknown male Died (fell, body found in Louvain)[30]
May 25, 2005 Unknown boy, about 10 Dunhuang–Lanzhou Airbus A320 Died[10]
June 7, 2005 Unidentified Johannesburg–Dakar–New York City (South African Airways Flight 203) Airbus A340[36] Died (crushed on approach to John F. Kennedy International Airport)[37]
January 12, 2007 Male Johannesburg–Dakar–Atlanta
(Delta Air Lines Flight 35)		 Boeing 767 Died (frozen and crushed)[38]
January 15, 2007 Unidentified Banjul–Dakar–Brussels Airbus A330-300[39] Died[40]
January 28, 2007 Samuel Peter Benjamin, 17 Singapore–Vancouver–Hong Kong–Cape Town–London–Los Angeles Boeing 747 Died in the front wheel well, presumably after hitching the aircraft in his hometown Cape Town on January 22, body discovered in Los Angeles[41]
July 19, 2007 Asian, 50s Shanghai–San Francisco
(United Airlines flight)		 Boeing 747 Died (in the nose gear wheel well)[26]
September 21, 2007 Andrey Shcherbakov, 15 Perm–Moscow Boeing 737 Survived, but suffered severe frostbite[42]
October 12, 2007 Osama R.M. Shublaq, Palestinian Kuala Lumpur–Singapore
(Singapore Airlines Flight 119)		 Boeing 777-200 Survived[43]
October 21, 2007 Ilgar Ashumov, 15 Baku–Moscow Died on approach to Domodedovo International Airport, body found 12 km from the airport[44]
August 9, 2009 Filipp Yurchenko, 19 Irkutsk–Khabarovsk–Vladivostok
(Vladivostok Avia Flight 486)		 Airbus A320 Died[45]
February 7, 2010 Unknown male New York City–Narita
(Delta Air Lines Flight 59)		 Boeing 777 Died[46]
February 18, 2010 Unknown Dominican male Santo Domingo–Miami
(Amerijet flight)		 Boeing 767 Died (fell during takeoff)[47]
March 2010 Okechukwu Okeke, Nigerian Lagos to the United States
(Delta Air Lines flight)		 Boeing 777 Died in the nose wheel well[48]
April 2010 Unknown African male To Zürich Died (fell after landing gear was lowered on approach to Zürich, body found in Weisslingen)[49]
June 6, 2010 Romanian male, 20 Vienna–London Boeing 747 Survived[50]
July 9, 2010 Unknown male Beirut–Riyadh
(Nasair flight)		 Airbus A320 Died[51]
September 19, 2010 Nigerian national Johannesburg–Lagos
(Arik Air flight)		 Died (crushed)[48]
November 2, 2010 Male, 16 Yerbogachen–Kirensk Antonov An-24 Survived, but planned to reach Irkutsk[52]
November 15, 2010 Delvonte Tisdale, 16 Charlotte–Boston
(US Airways Flight 1776)		 Boeing 737 Died (possible fatal injury inside wheel well from landing gear, fell on approach to Boston)[53]
July 13, 2011 Adonis Guerrero Barrios, 23 Havana–Madrid Airbus A340[54] Died[55]
July 26, 2012 Unidentified male Cape Town–London
(British Airways flight)		 Boeing 747 Died[56]
September 9, 2012 Jose Matada, 27 Luanda–London Boeing 777[57] Died (fell)[58][59]
October 26, 2012 Unidentified male London–Lagos Airbus A340-500 Died[60]
April 8, 2013 Unidentified male Yaoundé–Paris
(Camair-Co flight)		 Boeing 767 Died[61]
June 6, 2013 Georgian national, 22 (presumably) Rimini–Moscow
(I-Fly flight)		 Airbus A321 Died[62]
July 18, 2013 Hikmet Komur, 32 Istanbul–London
(British Airways Flight 675)		 Airbus A320 Died (froze), body found upon arrival to Heathrow Airport[63][64]
July 25, 2013 Unknown male Ouagadougou–Niamey–Paris
(Air France Flight 547)		 Airbus A330 Died (fell during landing in Niamey)[65]
August 24, 2013 Daniel Ihekina, 13/14 Benin City–Lagos Survived[66]
January 5, 2014 Unknown Mashhad–Medina (emergency landing due to landing gear failure) Boeing 767-300ER Died (body parts fell at an intersection in Mushrefa, Jeddah)[67]
February 22, 2014 Chris Dikeh, Nigerian national Dakar–Washington, D.C. Airbus A340-300 Died[68]
April 20, 2014 Yahya Abdi, Somali national, 16 San Jose–Kahului
(Hawaiian Airlines Flight 45)		 Boeing 767 Survived[69]
June 5, 2014 Male, 17 Sandefjord, Norway–Amsterdam
(KLM Cityhopper)		 Embraer 190 Died[70]
July 27, 2014 Unknown male teenager Mali (presumably)–Ramstein Air Base Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules Died[71]
March 14, 2015 Unidentified male, 40s Lagos–New York City
(Arik Air flight)		 Airbus A340-500 Died (the body was presumed to be in the wheel well from March 11, 2015 when the aircraft had its last flight from New York)[72]
April 7, 2015 Mario Steven Ambarita, 21 Pekanbaru–Jakarta
(Garuda Indonesia Flight 177)		 Boeing 737-800 Survived[73]
June 19, 2015 Carlito Vale, Mozambican national, 28/29, and unidentified male, 24 Johannesburg–London
(British Airways Flight 54)		 Boeing 747 Vale died (fell during approach, body recovered from a roof in Richmond).
The other survived with injuries and hospitalized.[74][75]
September 12, 2015 Unidentified stowaway Nairobi–Amsterdam
(Emirates SkyCargo flight)		 Boeing 777-200 Died, body discovered upon arrival at Schiphol Airport[76]
January 11, 2016 Unidentified male São Paulo–Paris
(Air France flight)		 Boeing 777 Died, body discovered during maintenance operations on the Boeing 777 at Orly Airport[77]

References

  1. ↑ "Airplane Stowaways Expose Glaring Breach in Airport Security". ABC News. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Stowaway cat survives flight from Athens". The Local. 2 August 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Wheel-well Stowaways Risk Lethal Levels of Hypoxia and Hypothermia" (PDF). Flight Safety Foundation. May–June 1997. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  4. ↑ Louise Maher (17 June 2015). "The Kupang Kid: Orphaned boy who risked life to come to Australia as stowaway in 1946". ABC Online. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Survival at High Altitudes: Wheel-Well Passengers" (PDF). FAA. October 1996. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "1966: Moscow-Paris Stowaway Dies". International Herald Tribune. April 18, 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  7. ↑ Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls: True Stories of Castaways and Other Survivors. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1998. p. 469. ISBN 0395911508.
  8. ↑ http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/print.main?id=713046
  9. 1 2 3 "Wheel-well Stowaway Flights" (PDF). Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 Cao Desheng. "Boy hiding in gear compartment killed". China Daily. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "Two Mongolian Boys, One Dead, Found on U.S. Air Force Flight". Associated Press. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "5 stowaway attempts that didn't end tragically". CNN. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  13. ↑ http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19981223&slug=2790535
  14. ↑ "Body found in plane undercarriage". BBC. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  15. ↑ "Stowaway survives flight". Star-News. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  16. ↑ "Stowaway survives Honduras-to-Miami flight at 33,000 feet". Ocala Star-Banner. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  17. ↑ Tim Sullivan, Raf Casert. "For a Pair of African Stowaways, Only Europe Held Hope of a Future". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  18. ↑ "Stowaway Found Alive in Jet's Wheel Well". ABC News. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  19. ↑ "Tahitian Stowaway to Los Angeles Found Guilty". Pacific Islands Development Program. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  20. ↑ "« J'ai vu le train d'atterrissage se fermer sous moi »". Retrieved 2015-08-10.
  21. ↑ "The man who fell to earth". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  22. ↑ Al Baker. "Stowaway Fell From Jet Near Airport, Police Say". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  23. ↑ Труп в самолете «Люфтганзы» – пермяк или екатеринбуржец? (in Russian). NR2. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  24. ↑ "Error that cost the lives of teenage Cuban stowaways". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  25. ↑ "Cameroonian stowaway dies on Paris-bound flight". Africa Review. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  26. 1 2 "Body found in wheel well of United 747 jumbojet". USA Today. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  27. ↑ Gary Jones (6 December 2002). "Frozen Stowaways; Lax security blamed after 2 boys die in jet undercarriage". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  28. ↑ В отсеке шасси самолета найден труп безбилетника (in Russian). Lenta.ru. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  29. ↑ "Two Foreigners Fall Dead from Plane in Shanghai". China Internet Information Center. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  30. 1 2 3 4 Living Through Terror. Routledge. 2013. p. 154. ISBN 1317982347.
  31. ↑ В Германии обнаружено тело россиянина, погибшего при попытке "зайцем" долететь до Франкфурта-на-Майне (in Russian). RIA Novosti. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  32. ↑ "Body found in wheel well of American Airlines aircraft". Airline Industry Information. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  33. ↑ "Body Find On BA Jet". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  34. ↑ "Stowaway found dead in wheel well of jet after Detroit landing". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. 23 October 2004. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  35. ↑ "Body of man discovered in aircraft's wheel well". Airline Industry Information. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  36. ↑ "South African Officials 'Mystified' At Stowaway Reports". Aero News. 8 June 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  37. ↑ "Stowaway's Leg Falls From Jet". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  38. ↑ "Stowaway's Body Found In Delta Jet". CBS News. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  39. ↑ Wastnage, Justin (15 January 2007). "SN Brussels engineers find dead body in A330 wheel well after flight from Dakar, second this weekend after Friday identical Delta 767 incident". Flightglobal. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  40. ↑ "Gambia: In SN Brussels Aircraft Incident Belgian Authorities Mount Investigation". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  41. ↑ Catherine Elsworth. "Body 'may have been week on plane'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  42. ↑ "Подросток пролетел в крыле Boeing-737 из Перми до "Внуково"" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  43. ↑ "Stowaway survives SIA flight from KL hidden in wheel well". AsiaOne. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  44. ↑ «Зачем воспитанному мальчику российская столица» (in Russian). Gazeta.ru. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  45. ↑ Прокуратура устанавливает, как погибший мужчина попал в шасси самолета (in Russian). RIA Novosti. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  46. ↑ Японская полиция выясняет, как мужчина попал в шасси борта из США (in Russian). RIA Novosti. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  47. ↑ Безбилетник погиб в нише для шасси самолета в аэропорту Доминиканы (in Russian). RIA Novosti. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  48. 1 2 "Nigerian stowaways: When youths reach end of their dreams so soon…". Nigerian Tribune. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  49. ↑ Нелегальный мигрант погиб на пути в Швейцарию, выпав из отсека шасси (in Russian). RIA Novosti. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  50. ↑ "Romanian stowaway found at Heathrow freed after caution". BBC. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  51. ↑ "Stowaway's body found in plane's landing gear". News.com.au. AFP. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  52. ↑ В Иркутской области подросток совершил перелет в отсеке шасси Ан-24. Izvestia (in Russian). Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  53. ↑ "The Last Days of Delvonte Tisdale". Creative Loafing Charlotte. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  54. ↑ "El cadáver de Adonis volverá a Cuba". El País (in Spanish). 22 July 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  55. ↑ "Dead Cuban Stowaway Found in Iberia Plane Landing Gear". AOL. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  56. ↑ "Apparent stowaway found in landing gear of British Airways 747". USA Today. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  57. ↑ Walker, Peter (25 April 2013). "Man found dead on London street 'was probably stowaway who fell from plane'". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  58. ↑ "Heathrow Stowaway, Jose Matada, Who Fell To His Death Over London Is Finally Identified". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  59. ↑ Rob Walker (January 6, 2014). "The final episode of a stowaway's story". BBC News. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  60. ↑ "Man’s body found in undercarriage of Nigerian plane". Vanguard. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  61. ↑ "Stowaway found dead in Cameroon-Paris plane landing gear". RFI. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  62. ↑ Итальянский "заяц", насмерть замерзший в самолете, оказался грузином. Moskovskij Komsomolets (in Russian). Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  63. ↑ "Turkish stowaway froze to death in temperatures as low as -60C after sneaking into landing gear of BA plane in attempt to visit his girlfriend in Britain". Daily Mail. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  64. ↑ "Turkish stowaway found dead in Heathrow airline landing gear". Belfast Telegraph. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  65. ↑ Безбилетник выпал из самолета при посадке (in Russian). Utro.ru. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  66. ↑ "Teen survives flight in aircraft wheel in Nigeria". Associated Press. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  67. ↑ "Body parts fall from sky in suspected stowaway incident". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  68. ↑ "Nigerian stowaway found dead under plane in the US". AfricanSpotlight. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  69. ↑ "Teen survives 5-hour flight in jet's wheel well". USA Today. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  70. ↑ "Corpse found in wheel well of KLM plane at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport". Associated press/CTV. 5 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  71. ↑ "Body of young stowaway found in US military plane". Yahoo! News. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  72. ↑ Chinedu Eze (15 March 2015). "Nigeria: After Roundtrip to U.S., Stowaway Dies in Arik Aircraft Wheel". AllAfrica.com. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  73. ↑ "Kronologi Pria Menyelinap Masuk ke Ruang Roda Pesawat Garuda". Kompas (in Indonesian). Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  74. ↑ "Stowaway dies after falling from British Airways plane in London". CNN. 19 June 2015.
  75. ↑ "'Plane stowaway' theory probed as body found on Richmond roof". BBC. 19 June 2015.
  76. ↑ "Body of stowaway found in cargo plane in Amsterdam". Reuters. 12 September 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  77. ↑ "Body found in landing gear of plane at Paris airport". Expatica. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
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