A dead body was discovered in the wheel well of a United Airlines jetliner after it landed at Kahului Airport, Maui, on Tuesday afternoon, the airline confirmed. The aircraft, United Flight 202, had departed from Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
The body was found in the compartment housing the plane’s landing gear, which is only accessible from outside the aircraft. United Airlines stated it remains unclear how or when the individual accessed the wheel well and is cooperating with authorities to investigate the incident.
The Federal Aviation Administration has not yet commented on the matter.
Stowaways hiding in unpressurized wheel wells face extreme dangers, including temperatures as low as -50°C to -60°C (-58°F to -76°F) and oxygen deprivation at high altitudes. These harsh conditions make survival rare.
However, there have been instances of stowaways surviving such ordeals. In 2022, a person was found alive in the wheel section of a Cargolux freight plane at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Similarly, an individual survived in the undercarriage bay of an Algerian carrier’s aircraft that landed in Paris last year.
Further details about the deceased person in Tuesday’s incident have not been disclosed.
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