Maui: In a shocking incident, a body was found in the wheel well of a United Airlines plane after it landed at Maui in Kahului, Hawaii, US, the airline and police department said. According to officials, United said in an email that the body was found in the wheel well of one of the main landing gear of Flight 202, which arrived at Kahului Airport from Chicago.
The airline said the wheel well of the Boeing 787-10 was only accessible from outside the flight. According to the airline and police, it is not yet known how or when the person accessed it.
What officials said
According to United, the wheel well of the Boeing 787-10 was only accessible from outside the aircraft. “At this time, it is not clear how or when the person accessed the wheel well,” the airline said.
The airline said that it is cooperating with authorities on the investigation, as reported by The Associated Press. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Maui Police Department said they are actively investigating the matter. At this time, neither United nor Maui Police Department have shared any further information.
Stowaways in the unpressurized wheel wells and cargo holds of planes face extreme conditions, including temperatures between minus 50 degrees and minus 60 degrees Celsius (minus 58 and minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit), as well as a lack of oxygen, making survival highly unlikely, according to Hindustan Times reports.
Kazakhstan plane crash
In a separate incident on Christmas morning, an Azerbaijan Airlines plane carrying 67 people crashed in Kazakhstan. Thirty-eight people were killed in the incident.
Officials said the Embraer 190 plane, flying from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to the Russian city of Grozny, was diverted due to weather on Wednesday morning and tried to make an emergency landing in Aktau, Kazakhstan.
However, the plane crashed during landing, and only 29 people survived.
