The incident happened at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina on Sunday morning
A stowaway was tragically found dead in the landing gear compartment of an American Airlines plane upon its arrival.
The grim discovery was made at Charlotte Douglas International Airport around 9am on Sunday morning, as per police reports.
Staff stumbled upon the body while carrying out routine maintenance on the aircraft that had just landed from Europe. The individual was declared dead at the scene by officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
An American Airlines spokesperson confirmed that the airline is “working with law enforcement on its investigation”, but no further details have been released. Authorities are urging anyone with information to contact them directly on 01-704-432-TIPS or leave anonymous tips with Charlotte Crime Stoppers at 01-704-334-1600.
Earlier this year, a similar incident occurred when the bodies of two teenagers were discovered in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue aircraft at a South Florida airport. The flight had arrived in Fort Lauderdale from John F.Kennedy International Airport in New York, reports the Mirror.
The stowaways were identified as 18 year old Jeik Aniluz Lusi and 16 year old Elvis Borques Castillo. DNA testing was used to identify the lads, who were found on January 6 during a post-flight inspection at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
The plane had flown in from New York’s JFK Airport via the Dominican Republic, which was the home country of the young men.
JetBlue branded the security breach a “heartbreaking situation” with stowaways putting their lives on the line in desperate attempts to reach countries across the globe. The US Federal Aviation Administration reckons only one in four people make it through alive.
These grim statistics only account for cases that are discovered, as aviation expert Irene King explained to the BBC – countless stowaways never even reach their intended destinations.
South African Themba Cabeka beat the odds during an 11-hour journey from Johannesburg to London, concealed within a British Airways aircraft’s undercarriage. He had researched plane designs alongside his mate Vale, who accompanied him on the harrowing 2015 voyage.
“I was not far from the engine,” Themba, who now goes by Justin, revealed to Channel 4’s The Man Who Fell From the Sky documentary. “You could feel it outside when it was rotating. You could even see the houses down there when the plane was flying.”
Themba clung to cables with his arms to stop himself plummeting from the aircraft, suffering burn injuries in the process. He regained consciousness on Heathrow’s tarmac with a broken leg before coming round again in hospital. He’s now settled in Liverpool.
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