Posted on 09/25/2007 4:18:21 PM PDT by George from New England
MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - A 15-year-old boy from the Urals suffered acute frostbite after riding the wing of a Boeing-737 plane on a two-hour flight from Perm to Moscow, Russian radio station Mayak reported on Monday.
After clinging on for the entire 1300-kilometer (808-mile) flight to Vnukova Airport, the boy, named Andrei, collapsed onto the tarmac. His arms and legs were so severely frozen that rescuers were at first unable to remove his coat and shoes, the radio station said.
The airport did not confirm the report. "We have no information on this," the Vnukovo press service told RIA Novosti.
However, Moscow's air and water transport control department said the radio's claim was true. A department spokesman said the incident occurred on Friday, and that the boy's parents were immediately informed, and flew to the capital the same day.
Doctors said it was nothing short of a miracle that Andrei survived the flight, with temperatures hitting minus 50 degrees Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit), the radio station said. The Boeing-737 has a cruising speed of 900 kmh (560 mph).
The boy reportedly made the journey after a commonplace domestic dispute. Angry with his father, who reportedly has a drinking problem, and with his mother for siding with her husband in family rows, Andrei ran away to the neighboring village, where his grandmother lives. On reaching the village, he decided to go on, and hitched a 220-km (137-mile) ride to the regional center, Perm, where he was dropped off at the airport.
It remains unclear how Andrei was able to climb on a plane wing un-noticed, and the Perm Airport security service is being asked some serious questions, the radio station said.
Andrei is now being treated in a Moscow hospital, Radio Mayak said.
agreed....how’s he going to breathe at that altitude?
Kim Jong Il made all “Aces” the first time he ever played golf, so anything is possible. /s
Hey I just flew in from the Urals, and boy are my arms tird!
I always wondered how airlines could cut their service even more...
He hitchhiked 137 miles to the airport, then clung to the wing for 808 miles. Apparently holding his breath the whole way.
Pure bullshit!
I wonder what his political stance is......left wing....or right?
“Why in my day...I used to have to fly 500 miles to school
hanging on the wing of a 747, up hill both ways, some times
my hands would never defrost and the teacher would stand me in the corner and use me for a coat rack...”
And you try to tell that to the kids these days and they don’t believe it.
Someone needs to photoshop the Katrina beer guy onto the wing of a plane....
Bravo Sierra ³
Never tell a Russki to get on the plane. Be more specific and tell them to get IN the plane.
Calling the aviation folks.
LOL!
I’ve heard some weird stories about Russian airliners. Maybe in this case the pilot dragged the plane to the destination airport at low altitude and slow speed because of some malfunction or something.
I guess he could have frozen solid and become stuck to the wing somehow, and I’ve heard that people who die from submersion at extremely low temperatures can sometimes be restored to life... still, if this kid survived for two hours on the exterior of the aircraft at the typical speed and altitude of a 737 flight it’s nothing short of a miracle.
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