Wheel-well stowaways are individuals who attempt to travel in the landing gear compartment, also known as the wheel bay or undercarriage of an aircraft. Between 1947 and June 2015, a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) researcher had documented 113 such attempts on 101 flights. These 113 people were all male and predominantly under age 30.[1] There were 86 deaths, a 76 percent fatality rate,[2] with many unidentified decedents. There may be additional undocumented cases of wheel-well stowaways. A further 19 incidents, identified since 2015, are listed here.
Wheel-well stowaways face considerable risk of death during all phases of flight. Some have been unable to remain in the well during takeoff and landing and have fallen to their death. Immediately after takeoff, the landing gear retracts into the wheel wells, with the potential to crush the stowaway.[3] If the stowaway is able to avoid physical injury, they still face hypothermia and hypoxia risks at the extremely low temperatures and low atmospheric pressure at high altitude, as well as hearing damage from prolonged exposure to the dangerously high noise levels outside the cabin.
At altitudes above approximately 2500abbr=onNaNabbr=on, hypothermia becomes a risk and reduced atmospheric pressure and partial pressure of oxygen, which drop below the level required to support brain consciousness at the cruising altitudes of jet aircraft, may impair physiological processes.[4] At altitudes above 6000abbr=onNaNabbr=on, stowaways may also develop decompression sickness and nitrogen gas embolism.
Temperatures continue to decrease with altitude, and may drop as low as -63C. As the plane descends to lower altitudes, a gradual rewarming and reoxygenation occur; if the stowaway does not regain consciousness and mobility by the time the landing gear is lowered during the final approach, or has already died, the body may fall from the aircraft. According to the FAA, it is likely that the number of stowaways is higher than records show because bodies have fallen into the ocean or in remote areas.[5] Many wheel-well stowaways are found, dead or alive, with their bodies covered in frost, suggesting severe hypothermia during flight. Fidel Maruhi, who survived a wheel-well flight from Tahiti to Los Angeles in 2000, had a body temperature of 79F, well below the level usually considered fatal, when emergency personnel began treating him on the runway.[6]
It is unknown how survivors did not perish from such extreme conditions. A 1996 FAA paper proposed that humans, when placed in an environment that overwhelms the body's ability to control its own temperature, become poikilothermic and enters a state of hibernation that allows the body to temporarily survive in low-oxygen environments.[7] Among 99 known cases of wheel-well stowaways from 1947 through June 6, 2013, there were 76 fatalities and 23 survivors.[8] It is possible there are additional undocumented cases of successful surviving wheel-well stowaways escaping the aircraft undetected possibly with outside assistance.[7]
One survivor, Armando Socarras Ramirez, who defected from Cuba aboard an Iberia flight from Havana to Madrid in 1969, recalled in 2021 that his earliest post-flight memories are of Spanish doctors calling him "Mr. Popsicle" because ice covered his body when the pilot discovered him after his arrival. He had boarded the plane while it was taxiing, carrying a flashlight, rope, and wool to stuff his ears; a companion fell out of the other wheel well before takeoff and a third backed out at the last moment. After takeoff, he had suffered frostbite on his middle finger so severe it turned black holding on until the wheels retracted, but then remembered nothing save shivering and shaking from the extreme cold until he lost consciousness. It took him a month in a Spanish hospital to regain his hearing, but he reports no lingering medical issues from the experience.
Wheel-well stowaways have been widely covered in the press and media at large throughout the history of passenger airlines. One of the most notable incidents involved Keith Sapsford (14) from Sydney, Australia, who fell 200feet to his death from the wheel-well of a Tokyo-bound Japan Air Lines Douglas DC-8 on February 24, 1970, shortly after takeoff from Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport. Amateur photographer John Gilpin was testing his new camera lens by taking pictures of planes taking off that day, and did not realize he had captured the boy's final moments until he developed the pictures a week later. The photo was then featured in Life magazine's issue for the week of March 6, 1970, in their "Parting Shots" section of particularly newsworthy photos, across the fold of a two-page spread.[9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Below is a chronological list of documented aircraft wheel-well stowaway incidents. Stowaways have also traveled in a cargo hold,[15] or in a spare parts compartment,[16] both of which are pressurized, or even in the pressurized cabin itself.[17] In at least one other instance, on July 31, 2013, a cat survived a flight from Athens to Zürich in the front undercarriage of an Airbus A321.[18] Those types of incidents are not included in the scope of the list below.
| Date | Stowaway(s) | Flight | Aircraft | Stowaway's fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bas Wie, 12 | Kupang–Darwin | Douglas DC-3 | Survived, naturalised in Australia in 1958 and married[19] | ||
| Male, 30 | Lisbon–Natal | Douglas DC-3 | Survived | ||
| Male Fiji Indian | Nadi–Honolulu | Survived, arrested, jailed for 60 days and deported back to Fiji[20] | |||
| Daniel Melo, 16 | Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation | Survived, caught by LAV's ground team and deported.[21] | |||
| Male, 17 | Bogotá–Mexico City | Boeing 707 | Survived at 34000feet[22] [23] [24] | ||
| Unidentified man, about 24 | Moscow–Paris | Sud Aviation Caravelle | Died[25] [26] | ||
| Unknown youth, 20/21 | Orly–Morocco | Sud Aviation Caravelle | Died (frozen) | ||
| Armando Socarras Ramírez, 17, Jorge Pérez Blanco, 16 | Havana–Madrid (Iberia Flight 904) | Douglas DC-8 | Pérez fell out before takeoff and survived to be imprisoned by the Cuban government. Socarras made to Madrid, was released after 52 days in a Spanish hospital, and as of 2021 lives in Virginia. | ||
| Male, 17, and a second unknown | Havana–Madrid | Douglas DC-8 | One survived, second fell to death | ||
| Keith Sapsford, 14 | Sydney–Tokyo (Japan Airlines flight) | Sapsford fell to his death after the landing gear doors opened underneath him as the gear retracted, falling from 200feet during the take off sequence. His fatal fall was inadvertently captured by amateur photographer John Gilpin and the photograph was published in Life magazine.[27] [28] | |||
| Male, 13 | Lyon–Abidjan | Douglas DC-8 | Died (fell at Abidjan when landing gear lowered) | ||
| Male, 18 | San Diego–New York City | Boeing 707 | Died (froze) | ||
| Unknown youth | Bogotá–Miami | Boeing 707 | Died (fell) | ||
| Male, 35 | Panama–Miami | Boeing 707 | Survived at 39000feet | ||
| Two men from Trinidad | Trinidad–Toronto | BWIA West Indies Airways Lockheed L1011 | Both survived 5 hour flight[29] | ||
| Shamsul Ramli, 17 | Kuala Lumpur–Johannesburg (Malaysia Airlines flight) | Boeing 747 | Died. Body found in the 747's wheel well at Johannesburg Airport on arrival.[30] | ||
| Juan Carlos Guzmán-Betancourt, 17 | Bogotá–Miami (Arca Airline flight) | Douglas DC-8 | Survived at 35000feet, but frosted | ||
| Male, 19 | Bogotá–New York City | Boeing 747 | Died[31] | ||
| Unknown migrant worker | To Shanghai | Boeing 747 | Died (froze and fell during landing at Pudong International Airport)[32] | ||
| Two Mongolian boys, about 9 and 12 | Ulan Bator–Kadena Air Base | U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-141B | 12-year-old declared dead after discovery. Other child died two days later.[33] [34] | ||
| Pardeep Saini, 22, Vijay Saini, 19 | New Delhi–London | Boeing 747 | Pardeep survived in the nose wheel well at 35000feet, Vijay died[35] | ||
| Male, adolescent | Nairobi–London | Boeing 747 | Died (crushed in nosewheel well) | ||
| Trevor Jacobs, 30 | Antigua–Trinidad | McDonnell Douglas MD-80 | Died (Trevor Jacobs was wanted on several criminal charges, including kidnapping)[36] | ||
| Unknown male | Baku–London (British Airways Flight 2028) | Boeing 767 | Died, body discovered upon arrival at Gatwick Airport on February 8[37] | ||
| Chinese male, 23 | Shanghai–Tokyo | Boeing 747 | Survived, but hospitalized in critical condition[38] | ||
| Emilio Dominguez, 23 | San Pedro Sula–Miami (Iberia Flight 6130) | McDonnell Douglas DC-9 | Survived at 33000feet, traveled seeking work,[39] but was returned to Honduras | ||
| Yaguine Koita and Fodé Tounkara, 14 and 13 | Conakry–Brussels (Sabena Flight 520) | Airbus A330 | Both died (frozen)[40] | ||
| Fidel Maruhi, 24 | Papeete–Los Angeles–Paris (Air France Flight 71) | Boeing 747-400 | Survived at 38000feet.[41] Discovered during a refueling stopover in Los Angeles, where his body temperature had dropped to 26C, well below levels usually considered lethal, Maruhi later told, that the main motive behind his travel to France was to "shake hands" with Zinedine Zidane.[42] [43] [44] | ||
| Mohammed Ayaz, 21 | Muharraq–London | Boeing 777 | Died (traveled to London due to lack of employment in Pakistan and Bahrain)[45] | ||
| Unknown male | London–New York City (American Airlines Flight 131) | Boeing 777 | Died (fell from 1500feet on approach to John F. Kennedy International Airport)[46] | ||
| Mikhail Semenyaga, 24 | Perm–Yekaterinburg–Frankfurt | Died[47] | |||
| Alberto Rodriguez, 15, Maikel Almira, 16 | Havana–London | Boeing 777 | Both died (planned on hiding on a flight to Miami)[48] | ||
| Cameroonian male, 34 | Rio de Janeiro–Paris (Air France flight) | Died[49] | |||
| Victor Alvarez Molina, 24 | Havana–Montreal | McDonnell Douglas DC-10 | Survived, received refugee status in Canada[50] | ||
| Two boys, 12 and 14 | Accra–London | McDonnell Douglas DC-10 | Both died[51] | ||
| Mariano Alexis Herrera-Ba, Punta Cana International Airport technician | Punta Cana–Toronto | Airbus A320 | Died[52] | ||
| Two unidentified men | Paris–Shanghai (Air France Flight 112) | Boeing 777 | Both died (fell on approach to Pudong International Airport)[53] | ||
| Unknown male | Mali or Gabon–Paris? | Died (fell near Paris)[54] | |||
| Unknown Russian male, 19 | To Frankfurt | Died (was crushed and then fell when approaching Frankfurt)[55] | |||
| Unknown male, about 25 | Montego Bay–New York City | Died[56] | |||
| Unknown male, 30s | Lagos–London–New York City (British Airways Flight 117) | Boeing 747 | Died (body found upon arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport)[57] | ||
| Unknown male, 20 | Dominican Republic–Düsseldorf | Died (froze) | |||
| Unknown male, 20s | Miami–Detroit | Boeing 737[58] | Died[59] | ||
| Liang Kailong, 14, Su Qing, 13 | Kunming–Chongqing | Airbus A320 | Liang survived, Su died (fell shortly after takeoff) | ||
| Unknown | Mali–Paris | Died | |||
| Unknown male | Died (fell, body found in Louvain) | ||||
| Unknown boy, about 10 | Dunhuang–Lanzhou | Airbus A320 | Died (fell soon after takeoff) | ||
| Unidentified | Johannesburg–Dakar–New York City (South African Airways Flight 203) | Airbus A340[60] | Died (crushed on approach to John F. Kennedy International Airport)[61] | ||
| Male | Johannesburg–Dakar–Atlanta (Delta Air Lines Flight 35) | Boeing 767 | Died (frozen and crushed)[62] | ||
| Unidentified | Banjul–Dakar–Brussels | Airbus A330-300[63] | Died[64] | ||
| 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[65] | ||
| Asian, 50s | Shanghai–San Francisco (United Airlines flight) | Boeing 747 | Died (in the nose gear wheel well) | ||
| Andrey Shcherbakov, 15 | Perm–Moscow | Boeing 737 | Survived, but suffered severe frostbite[66] | ||
| Osama R.M. Shublaq | Kuala Lumpur–Singapore (Singapore Airlines Flight 119) | Boeing 777-200 | Survived[67] | ||
| Ilgar Ashumov, 15 | Baku–Moscow | Died on approach to Domodedovo International Airport, body found 12 km from the airport[68] | |||
| Filipp Yurchenko, 19 | Irkutsk–Khabarovsk–Vladivostok (Vladivostok Avia Flight 486) | Airbus A320 | Died[69] | ||
| Unknown male | New York City–Narita (Delta Air Lines Flight 59) | Boeing 777 | Died[70] | ||
| Unknown Dominican male | Santo Domingo–Miami (Amerijet flight) | Boeing 767 | Died (fell during takeoff)[71] | ||
| Okechukwu Okeke, Nigerian | Lagos to the United States (Delta Air Lines flight) | Boeing 777 | Died in the nose wheel well[72] | ||
| Unknown African male | To Zürich | Died (fell after landing gear was lowered on approach to Zürich, body found in Weisslingen)[73] | |||
| Romanian male, 20 | Vienna–London | Boeing 747 | Survived[74] | ||
| Unknown male | Beirut–Riyadh (Nasair flight) | Airbus A320 | Died[75] | ||
| Nigerian national | Johannesburg–Lagos (Arik Air flight) | Died (crushed) | |||
| Roman Sorokovikov, 16 | Yerbogachen–Kirensk | Antonov An-24 | Survived, but planned to reach Irkutsk[76] | ||
| 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)[77] | ||
| Qasim Siddique | Lahore–Dubai (Airblue flight) | Died (fell shortly after takeoff)[78] | |||
| Adonis Guerrero Barrios, 23 | Havana–Madrid | Airbus A340[79] | Died[80] | ||
| Unidentified male | Cape Town–London (British Airways flight) | Boeing 747-400 | Died[81] | ||
| Jose Matada, 27 | Luanda–London | Boeing 777[82] | Died (fell)[83] [84] | ||
| Unidentified male | London–Lagos | Airbus A340-500 | Died[85] | ||
| Unidentified male | Yaoundé–Paris (Camair-Co flight) | Boeing 767 | Died[86] | ||
| Georgian national, 22 (presumably) | Rimini–Moscow (I-Fly flight) | Airbus A321 | Died[87] four days before discovery, and may have been undetected for seven or more previous flights; stowaway boarding location undetermined. | ||
| Hikmet Komur, 32 | Istanbul–London (British Airways Flight 675) | Airbus A320 | Died (froze), body found upon arrival at Heathrow Airport[88] | ||
| Unknown male | Ouagadougou–Niamey–Paris (Air France Flight 547) | Airbus A330 | Died (fell during landing in Niamey)[89] | ||
| Daniel Ihekina, 13/14 | Benin City–Lagos | Survived[90] | |||
| Unknown | Mashhad–Medina (emergency landing due to landing gear failure) | Boeing 767-300ER | Died (body parts fell at an intersection in Mushrefa, Jeddah)[91] | ||
| Chris Dikeh, Nigerian national | Dakar–Washington, D.C. | Airbus A340-300 | Died[92] | ||
| Yahya Abdi, Somali national, 16 | San Jose–Kahului (Hawaiian Airlines Flight 45) | Survived[93] | |||
| Male, 17 | Sandefjord–Amsterdam (KLM Cityhopper flight) | Died[94] | |||
| July 27, 2014 | Unknown male teenager | Mali (presumably)–Ramstein Air Base | Died[95] | ||
| 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)[96] | |
| April 7, 2015 | Mario Steven Ambarita, 21 | Pekanbaru–Jakarta (Garuda Indonesia Flight 177) | Boeing 737-800 | Survived[97] | |
| June 19, 2015 | Carlito Vale, Mozambican national, 28/29, and Themba Cabeka, 24 | Johannesburg–London (British Airways Flight 54) | Boeing 747-400 | Vale died (fell during approach, body recovered from a roof in Richmond). Cabeka survived with life-changing injuries and has been granted leave to remain.[98] [99] [100] | |
| September 12, 2015 | Unidentified stowaway | Nairobi–Amsterdam (Emirates SkyCargo flight) | Boeing 777-200 | Died, body discovered upon arrival at Schiphol Airport[101] | |
| 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[102] | |
| February 14, 2016 | Unidentified man | Munich–Durban (Western Global Airlines flight) | McDonnell Douglas MD-11 | Died, body discovered during refuelling at Harare International Airport, Zimbabwe.[103] [104] [105] | |
| June 7, 2016 | Unidentified male | Dakar–Brussels (Brussels Airlines Flight 204) | Airbus A330 | Died, body discovered during regular maintenance at Brussels Airport[106] | |
| September 21, 2016 | Unidentified African male | Nigeria–Jeddah (Flynas flight) | Boeing 747 | Died, body discovered in the rear wheel well during regular check at King Abdulaziz International Airport[107] [108] | |
| November 30, 2016 | Unidentified stowaway | Lagos–Johannesburg (Arik Air flight) | Airbus A330-200 | Died, body discovered at the O. R. Tambo International Airport[109] | |
| August 12, 2017 | Unidentified Dominican male | Santo Domingo–Miami (American Airlines Flight 1026) | Airbus A321 | Survived, was returned to Dominican Republic[110] | |
| January 13, 2018 | Unidentified male | Honolulu–Japan (Delta Air Lines flight) | Died, body fell on take-off.[111] | ||
| February 11, 2018 | Unidentified African man | Kinshasa–Ukunda (Kenya Airways flight) | Died, found after emergency landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport[112] | ||
| February 26, 2018 | Marco Vinicio PG, 17, and Luis Manuel Ch. P., 16 | Guayaquil–New York (LATAM Flight 1438) | Boeing 767-300 | Both died (bodies fell on takeoff)[113] [114] | |
| August 2018 | Unidentified male | Caracas–La Fría | Died (fell on takeoff from Simón Bolívar International Airport)[115] | ||
| April 13, 2019 | Unidentified male | Pointe-à-Pitre–Cayenne(Air France Flight 600) | Airbus A320 | Survived. Homeless man found on the tarmac of the Félix Éboué Airport.[116] The flight made a refuelling stop at Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport in Martinique between Pointe-à-Pitre and Cayenne. | |
| June 30, 2019 | Unidentified male, 29 | Nairobi–London(Kenya Airways Flight 100) | Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner | Died (froze during the flight and fell from the landing gear on approach to London Heathrow Airport. The body fell into a garden in Clapham, one meter (3 ft) away from a sunbathing resident).[117] An investigation by Sky News initially identified the man as 29-year old Paul Manyasi, an employee of Colnet, a cleaning company contracted by Kenya Airports Authority (KAA).[118] KAA and Colnet both claimed that their records showed that Manyasi was never employed by Colnet, nor did his name appear on any airport staff registers.[119] Later reporting by KTN News Kenya found that the family who claimed to have positively identified Manyasi as their son was not even named Manyasi, had no son named Paul and had been paid US$200 to make the claim. Sky retracted the story and apologized to its readers for having been misled and Colnet for having erroneously reported the man had been an employee.[120] | |
| September 30, 2019 | Unidentified male, 20s. | Conakry–Casablanca(Royal Air Maroc Flight 526) | Boeing 737-800 | Died.[121] Unknown man in his twenties was found lifeless in plane's landing gear compartment. External examination of the body revealed severe abrasions, particularly on the chest, abdomen and limbs. The body was frozen and rigor mortis had already set in. The cause of death was judged to occur as a result of the combined effect of hypothermia and thoracic trauma.[122] | |
| January 7, 2020 | Unidentified male | Abidjan–Paris(Air France Flight 703) | Boeing 777-300 | Died (cause unknown; body found in plane's landing gear upon arrival at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport)[123] | |
| February 4, 2021 | Kenyan national, 16 | London Stansted–Maastricht(Turkish Airlines Flight 6305) | Airbus A330 | Survived. Was hospitalized but recovered.[124] [125] The flight reportedly left from Nairobi previously, arriving in London after a stop in Istanbul.[126] | |
| April 19, 2021 | Unidentified male | Lagos–Amsterdam(KLM Flight 588) | Airbus A330-200 | Died during the flight, likely of hypothermia.[127] | |
| August 16, 2021 | Shafiullah Hotak(~25), Fida Mohammad (~20), Zaki Anwari (19) | Kabul, Afghanistan | Boeing C-17 | Three men were among those who died during the 2021 Kabul Airport evacuation. Several men were seen clinging on to the landing gear, with at least two of them falling from the plane moments after takeoff.[128] The bodies of the fallen men were later recovered from the rooftop of a house in Kabul and were identified as Shafiullah Hotak (~25 years) and Fida Mohammad (~20 years)[129] Zaki Anwari (19) was a third fatality, whose remains were seen trapped in the landing gear, hours after take-off.[130] [131] Anwari was a footballer and had represented Afghanistan's under-23 team. | |
| November 27, 2021 | Unidentified male | Guatemala City, GUA-Miami, FL (American Airlines Flight 1182) | Boeing 737-800 | Survived. The unidentified male was taken into the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and was taken to the hospital for medical evaluation.[132] | |
| January 23, 2022 | Unidentified male, 22 years old, from Kenya[133] | Johannesburg – Nairobi – Amsterdam Cargolux Italia (Flight CLX 7156) | Boeing 747-400F | Survived. The unidentified male was apprehended by Dutch border control and is undergoing medical evaluation.[134] | |
| April 17, 2023 | Unidentified male, possibly from Nigeria[135] [136] | Lagos – Toronto – Amsterdam (KLM) | Boeing 777 | Died on flight, possibly from hypothermia | |
| September 15, 2023 | Unidentified male, possibly from Gambia[137] | Banjul – Several destinations in Europe – Amsterdam – Istanbul Turkish Airlines | Airbus A330 | Died, possibly got on in Gambia on September 10. Found on September 15 during routine maintenance in Istanbul. | |
| December 28, 2023 | Unidentified male, possibly in his 20s | Oran - Paris Orly (Air Algeria) | Boeing 737 | Alive but in critical conditions (severe hypothermia)[138] |