Stowaway rides 747 landing gear from Africa to Amsterdam

NY Post ^

[Pez149]

I’m surprised he made it alive. It’s an eleven hour flight and most of it at a height of 30,000 feet. That’s a miracle...

[BiglyCommentary]

The smile is your hint not to do a technical fact check. Ok, forget the B25 crew uniform. Probrably wore an artic diving wet suite...

[Seruzawa]

He was probably planning this trick from the greatest movie ever made:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnAQiR2OgKU

[hecticskeptic]

The airplane, a Boeing 747 cargo jet, had originated in Johannesburg, South Africa, according to the airport website.

The plane made stops in Harare, Zimbabwe, and Nairobi, Kenya, before flying to Amsterdam, according to flight-tracking website Flight Aware.
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Ok... so he likely hitched a ride from Nairobi which means that it was about an 8 hour flight. However, other sources are now saying that he got on in Johannesburg which would make it an 11 hour travel with two touchdowns along the way. What is in the wheel well of a 747 to hang on to.. especially once it has been tucked up for the flight? I found this video which addressed this question... hold your nose at the beginning since it is introduced by some idiot on CNN.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0wXXXacDns

[Presbyterian Reporter]

“””How did this guy survive the cold and oxygen deprivation, especially for such a long flight?”””

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He must have been in training to climb Mt Everest.

[qaz123]

I checked before your comment.

[mdmathis6]

If this Kenyan grew up in the Highlands near Kilimanjaro, he might have had the lung structure and the blood RBC content to survive the lower pressure and oxygen availability of the flight in the wheel-well. That is why Kenyan runners do so well in long distance events. They are not cheating but the enviromental circumstances in their upbringing causes a kind of natural blood doping effect when running in races in areas thousands of feet below what they grew up in. Hey...all the more power to them.

[BobL]

He’s a Kenyan, if he’s anything like their runners, he superhuman.

[PghBaldy]

John Denver & Cass Elliot Leaving On A Jet Plane

[Organic Panic]

Why aren’t white liberals flocking to African nations to enjoy diversity?

[353FMG]

Schiphol — most convenient airport in the world.

[Salamander]

Creepiest thing ever.

[arthurus]

Survive the extreme cold and the very thin air.

[consult]

Wow 30,000 feet. I’ve been to 19,000 without extra oxygen.

[Rebelbase]

I don’t understand why that movie didn’t win Oscars in all categories.

[yukong]

I cannot say for sure about this 747...but early 47s had a hatch in the nose gear well that went into the avionics bay. The avionics bay in the ones I have been in are actually fairly roomy. In that you can mostly stand up, or sit or lay down. Plus there is some level of insulation around that compartment to protect the avionics. Some then had a hatch in to enter the passenger cabin. That this was a cargo bird may have changed that situation, but I suspect there may still be a hatch for access by crew. But back in the day, I lived near a facility that salvaged commercial jets. They would be flown in (usually just immediately after being removed from passenger service) and the company would then strip them to the frame and sell off the parts. I met the guys running the operation and sometimes when new birds would come in, I would go out to see them. The easiest access into the cabin of the 47s was through the nose gear well/avionics bay. So, maybe he got into the avionics bay.

[exinnj]

Didn’t happen.

[hecticskeptic]

And this is why I asked the question... I know that there was a smart Freeper somewhere who had actually seen one with his/her own eyes.

[Old Yeller]

I’ve made that flight. That’s a long way to hold on in the cold.