Second Dead Plane Stowaway Found in New York

Reuters ^ | December 31, 2003

[Hal1950]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - For the second time in a week, an apparent stowaway was found dead in a wheel well of a passenger jet that landed at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, raising airport security concerns, officials said on Wednesday.

The body of a man believed to be in his 30s was discovered on Tuesday night during a maintenance inspection of British Airways flight 177 from London's Heathrow Airport, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said.

On Christmas Eve, JFK airport maintenance crews found the body of a stowaway in a wheel well of an American Airlines flight that landed in New York from Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Port Authority, local law enforcement and the FBI are investigating a possible breach of airline security at a time when the United States is in a heightened state of alert over terror threats.

"Access to commercial aircraft is always a concern," said FBI spokesman Jim Margolin. "And obviously with inbound flights we're relying on security measures at airports that are not within the control of U.S. law enforcement or aviation authorities."

Port Authority spokesman Tony Ciavolella said the dead man found aboard the British Airways flight was carrying Nigerian currency and was decomposed, leading to speculation he might have boarded the airliner days earlier. The plane had been in Lagos, Nigeria, on Dec. 22, according to British Airways.

A British Airways spokesman said authorities were awaiting results of an autopsy of the unidentified man.

"They have to determine the cause of death and the length of time he was deceased so they can determine where this person stowed away," said spokesman John Lampl.

"Of course it is of concern. We have to focus on where the plane has been the last few days and finely tune where the obvious breach of security took place."

[DannyTN]

"Maybe they were terrorists planning to sabotage the planes, only they didn't count on it being 40 degrees below zero at altitude."

That's it! They planned to throw themselves in front of the wheel when landing "tripping" the plane.

[DannyTN]

"I think somebody should've been able to smell this dead guy." I think it should be standard policy to check the wheel wells for anything suspicious prior to takeoff for international flights headed to the US.

[Darksheare]

He's a newly arrived Democratic voter!

[Darksheare]

Screaming speedbumps and improvised brake pads?

[Lucky Lyn]

Also the air at 40,000 feet is a tad thin!!

[wtc911]

Hit the nail on the head. Access to the plane.

[wtc911]

Rocco, not Rocko. If you're gonna say it get it right....

[Cobra64]

Pilot: "Gear down"

(motor whining --- clunk....

ker bump

Co-Pilot: "Captain what was that noise?"

Pilot looking in rearview mirror: "Looks like another frozen stiff. I hat eit when that happens. (/ pilot's sarcasm)"

[festus]

A couple more of these events and we'll have to ban the sale of airplanes as they will be more deadly than ephedra..........

[Steve_Seattle]

Some idiot from Vietnam did this same thing years ago at Sea-Tac in Seattle; if I recall, he was killed when the pod opened and he fell out. An early Darwin Award nominee.

[cynicom]

In the military, we use to check the wheelwells, prior to takeoff, for snakes and other assorted critters. Guess the pilots and ground crew not too concerned.

[Uncle George]

If The US had placed arctic sleeping bags in all airliners wheel wells in the world this would not have happened.

[EggsAckley]

Either of these guys could have been a terrorist with a bomb in a backpack.

Wow! I hadn't thought of that. Good thinking! Scary, too.

[mvpel]

Severing hydraulic lines causing a landing gear deployment failure could have a deleterious effect.

[lonevoice]

I agree. It is really weird and seems too "coincidental" to happen twice in one week. I'd also wonder about suicidal jihadists with some biological contaminant. Very strange story.

[gcruse]

dead man found aboard the British Airways flight was carrying Nigerian currency

Damn it all.   I'll bet that was my $5 million dollars for letting the Nigerian Internet Police
use my bank accounts to trap spam scammers.  No wonder Nkomo Mdudu hasn't
been answering my faxes lately.  Now, about my checks that are bouncing....

[Ichneumon]

Second Dead Plane Stowaway Found in New York

Makes you wonder just how many stowaways can *fit* on a dead plane, anyway.

[camas]

test cases?????

[COEXERJ145]

Actually, this isn't an uncommon occurrence but the current climate causes it to be major news.