Body Found in American Airlines Landing Gear in US: "Frostbite and Oxygen Deprivation Are Fatal"

Departed from Europe, Landed at North Carolina Airport
Discovered During Aircraft Inspection... Presumed Stowaway

The body of a man, presumed to be a stowaway, was discovered in the landing gear of an American Airlines passenger plane that arrived in North Carolina, United States, after departing from Europe.

According to foreign media outlets such as ABC News and USA Today on September 28 (local time), at around 9 a.m. that day, an aircraft maintenance team at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina found the body of a man in the main landing gear during an inspection of an American Airlines passenger plane. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department stated that airport staff pronounced the individual dead at the scene. The specific identity, boarding route, and departure city of the individual have not been disclosed.

American Airlines said, "We are cooperating with the investigative authorities." The airport stated, "We deeply regret this news," adding, "We will actively cooperate with the police investigation, and airport operations will continue as usual regardless of the body."

American Airlines airplane. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. Photo by AP Yonhap News Agency

This is not the first time a stowaway's body has been found in an aircraft's landing gear. The landing gear is the device that makes direct contact with the ground during takeoff and landing. The landing gear compartment is a hollow space connected to the outside, and stowaways often hide there. In January of this year, the bodies of two teenagers from the Dominican Republic were found in the landing gear of a plane that arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida.

"Stowing Away in Landing Gear: Fatal Due to Low Temperatures and Hypoxia"

Aviation analyst John Nance explained that, unlike stowing away on a train, hiding in the wheel well of a commercial aircraft almost always results in death due to the extreme and exposed conditions inside the compartment. He told ABC News, "When the human body is exposed for several hours to temperatures as low as minus 51 degrees Celsius, extensive frostbite and loss of limbs can occur, and at altitudes above 35,000 feet (approximately 10,668 meters), even if brain death does not occur, oxygen deprivation is already fatal."

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), there have been more than 120 reported cases of landing gear stowaways worldwide since 1947, but fewer than 20 have survived. Some of the survivors only made it because the flights were short distances and at low altitudes.