See post 4.
Sounded like a great kid......why the heck he would do this is strange...
That's really sad, at that age who can say "why", maybe a lark, an adventure, not considering the deadly conditions (temp, lack of oxygen, etc.) in a wheel well. Some of the hair-brain things I did at that age humble me as I think back and realize what could have happened.
Like hitching a train, only higher and faster. And teen-aged boys are stupid about stuff -- kid probably had no idea what it means to be flying along at 30,000 feet.