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Body found in British Air wheelwell at JFK
deutschepresse via bloomberg no url available | 12/31/3

Posted on 12/31/2003 9:08:25 AM PST by NativeNewYorker

New York (dpa) - A man's body was discovered in the undercarriage of a British Airways plane after it landed in New York from London Wednesday.

It is suspected that the man, a 30-year-old African, may have hidden himself in the undercarriage of the aircraft on Christmas Eve when the plane was in Lagos airport in Nigeria, television news channel CNN reported.

According to U.S. security officials the man may have died on the flight to London. The first officer of the British aircraft found the body shortly after landing the Boeing 747 in Kennedy Airport.

During a routine inspection of the undercarriage, he noticed a strong smell of decay around the left wheel area.

The American federal police, FBI and the U.S. aviation authorities launched an investigation. A spokesperson for British Airways confirmed that a body had been found but did not want to comment on possible security failings.

Such fatal attempts to reach the U.S. or other western countries illegally are becoming ever more frequent. Only one week ago at Kennedy Airport, another body was found hidden in the undercarriage of a plane from Jamaica.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: ba; darwin; something; specialintheair; stowaway
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1 posted on 12/31/2003 9:08:25 AM PST by NativeNewYorker
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To: NativeNewYorker
A body or a bomb, it's all the same.
2 posted on 12/31/2003 9:09:45 AM PST by citizen (Write-in Tom Tancredo President 2004!)
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To: NativeNewYorker
Air is VERY thin at 30,000 feet.
3 posted on 12/31/2003 9:10:44 AM PST by taxcontrol (People are entitled to their opinion - no matter how wrong it is.)
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To: taxcontrol
Cold too!
4 posted on 12/31/2003 9:11:06 AM PST by Gamecock (THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA: "WE'RE THE INTOLERANT ONES!)
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To: NativeNewYorker
When the Queen Mary II starts making voyages are they gonna hide on the rudder?
5 posted on 12/31/2003 9:11:36 AM PST by Conspiracy Guy (Clues for sale, 20 % off through Jan 1, 2004. Don't be clueless, buy yours today.)
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To: taxcontrol
and even thinner at 40,000...
6 posted on 12/31/2003 9:13:06 AM PST by metoooo
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To: NativeNewYorker
We have another nominee for this years Darwin Awards....
7 posted on 12/31/2003 9:13:10 AM PST by Kozak (Anti Shahada: " There is no God named Allah, and Muhammed is his False Prophet")
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To: taxcontrol
"Air is VERY thin at 30,000 feet."

As is his body at wheels up.

8 posted on 12/31/2003 9:13:47 AM PST by robertpaulsen
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To: NativeNewYorker
Gee, nice to know the ground crew are on the ball. They had to use their noses to find the guy? Wheel wells don't get a visual inspection? This dosen't pass the "smell test".
9 posted on 12/31/2003 9:14:57 AM PST by Lockbar
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To: NativeNewYorker
Second body found this week. Earlier it was an American Airlines flight from Jamaica.
10 posted on 12/31/2003 9:17:09 AM PST by OldFriend (Always understand, even if you remain among the few)
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To: Lockbar
Yeah. He hid there in Lagos, landed in London, and they didn't find him till NY? Why wasn't he found in London? Do they NOT inspect aircraft in Britain?
11 posted on 12/31/2003 9:18:00 AM PST by EggsAckley (......................... IT'S NOT MY FAULT ! ! ! ...................................)
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To: NativeNewYorker
So much for Priceline.com.
12 posted on 12/31/2003 9:19:46 AM PST by Blue Screen of Death (,/i)
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To: NativeNewYorker
Strong smell of decay, that usually doesn't happen right away, I suspect the poor soul actually racked up quite a few more frequent flier miles than they are claiming before being discovered.
13 posted on 12/31/2003 9:25:46 AM PST by KellyAdmirer
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To: EggsAckley
He's been in that wheel well for some time. Not a lot of decomposition occurs at 33,000 feet due to subzero temperatures.. Figure that he froze on flight 1, thawed somewhat during the turnaround allowing some decomposition to occur. Then he refroze on flight two, etc...

I bet he was there for at least a week.
14 posted on 12/31/2003 9:28:26 AM PST by Gamecock (THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA: "WE'RE THE INTOLERANT ONES!)
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To: KellyAdmirer
I had the same reaction. Also, as cold as it gets "at altitude", you'd think decay would be quite delayed.
15 posted on 12/31/2003 9:32:04 AM PST by NativeNewYorker (Freepin' Jew Boy)
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To: Gamecock
> I bet he was there for at least a week.

Which raises the question:
If he was just found on a walk-around,
why wasn't he found on the previous walk-arounds?

In other news, Howard Dean has promised, if
elected, to compel airlines to heat and
pressurize landing gear wells, so that no
further potential Democrats are lost.
16 posted on 12/31/2003 9:39:26 AM PST by Boundless
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To: Boundless
That is the million dollar question. From the article it sounds like the only reason he was found was the smell....
17 posted on 12/31/2003 9:41:06 AM PST by Gamecock
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To: citizen
According to U.S. security officials the man may have died on the flight to London. The first officer of the British aircraft found the body shortly after landing the Boeing 747 in Kennedy Airport. During a routine inspection of the undercarriage, he noticed a strong smell of decay around the left wheel area.

It is also VERY cold at 30k feet. If it was found shortly after landing, how could it have decayed?

18 posted on 12/31/2003 9:41:53 AM PST by cinFLA
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To: cinFLA
Never mind, the plane was in London for awhile.
19 posted on 12/31/2003 9:43:02 AM PST by cinFLA
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To: NativeNewYorker
This kind of thing is not good.

If this guy could get aboard that way, so could a terrorist.
20 posted on 12/31/2003 9:45:23 AM PST by Age of Reason
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