A stowaway was found dead in the landing gear compartment of an American Airlines plane after it landed.
The incident happened at Charlotte Douglas International Airport at around 9am on Sunday morning, according to police. Staff were performing routine maintenance on the plane that had recently arrived from Europe, and the person was found in the landing gear. The person was pronounced dead on scene by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers.
An American Airlines spokesperson said the airline is “working with law enforcement on its investigation” with no other details released. Authorities said anyone with information should call 01-704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a detective. People can also leave information anonymously by calling Charlotte Crime Stoppers at 01-704-334-1600.
Earlier this year, the bodies of two teenagers were found in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue aircraft at a South Florida airport. That flight arrived in Fort Lauderdale from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
Jeik Aniluz Lusi, 18, and Elvis Borques Castillo, 16, were identified as the stowaways. DNA was used to identify the boys, who were discovered on January 6 during a post-flight inspection at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The plane had arrived from New York’s JFK Airport via the Dominican Republic, from where the young men hailed.
JetBlue described the security breach as a “heartbreaking situation” with stowaways risking their lives in a bid to enter countries around the world. The US Federal Aviation Administration has estimated just one in four people survive the journey.
And these odds only come from the cases that are identified. As aviation expert Irene King told the BBC, many stowaways don’t even make it to their destinations.
A South African man called Themba Cabeka survived an 11-hour flight from Johannesburg to London after hiding in a British Airways plane’s undercarriage. He had studied aircraft designs with his pal Vale, who joined him on the desperate journey in 2015.
“I was not far from the engine,” Themba, now known as Justin, told Channel 4 documentary The Man Who Fell From the Sky. “You could feel it outside when it was rotating. You could even see the houses down there when the plane was flying.”
Themba wrapped his arms through cabling to prevent him falling out of the plane and was left with burn marks. Sadly, Vale did not make the journey — he fell 1,400ft from the sky.
“He said: ‘We made it’,” said Justin. “And then I passed out with the lack of oxygen.” Justin woke up on the runway of Heathrow Airport with a shattered leg and later woke up in hospital. He now lives in Liverpool.
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