American Airlines’ surprise new ‘passenger’ was discovered in the landing gear, dead on arrival

Airplane maintenance workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina discovered a deceased suspected stowaway in the landing gear compartment of an American Airlines flight that had just arrived from Europe. The horrifying discovery was made as the maintenance crews were performing work on the aircraft. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) has officially taken over the scene and is now conducting a death investigation.

This particular American Airlines flight was a transatlantic journey. While the police haven’t officially released the exact city of origin, the CMPD did confirm the plane had “recently arrived from Europe”. One report indicated that the aircraft was a Boeing 777-200ER, and it had traveled from Frankfurt Airport in Germany. As of now, the police and the airline haven’t offered any information about the individual who died, including their identity, country of origin, or a possible cause of death.

The CMPD’s Homicide Unit detectives were called to the scene to conduct an investigation, with crime scene search teams getting involved to process the area and collect physical evidence. Both American Airlines and the airport were quick to address the tragic incident. An American Airlines spokesperson stated simply that they “are working with law enforcement on its investigation”. Likewise, the Charlotte Douglas International Airport released a statement saying they were “deeply saddened by this news and will support the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s (CMPD) investigation as needed”.

Stowaway died before airplane could land

Airport operations have continued as normal during the investigation. I think if you’re like me, you can’t help but wonder how anyone would ever attempt to ride in a landing gear compartment in the first place, or if anyone ever survives it. The unfortunate truth is that survival is incredibly rare. Experts who track these stowaway cases believe that roughly three-quarters of the people who try to hide in a plane’s undercarriage do not survive the journey.

Unfortunately, this is not like a bomb threat, which can cause a manhunt. This kind of thing isn’t seen until it’s too late, and the fatality rate actually exceeds 75 percent.

The reasons for this high mortality rate are pretty straightforward: the extreme environment. When a jet reaches cruising altitude (around 35,000 feet), the wheel well is neither heated nor pressurized. The temperatures plummet to brutal extremes, and the oxygen levels drop dramatically. We’d hope the TSA can catch these issues before they happen, but they’re relaxing rules right now.

Aviation analyst John Nance provided a grim but factual look at the risks, stating that “A human body exposed for many hours to temperatures as low as minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit courts extensive frostbite and loss of limbs, even if the utter lack of oxygen at 35,000 feet or more doesn’t result in brain death”. It’s a situation where survival is almost impossible, which is why the discovery is always such a stark and tragic reminder of the humanitarian crises that motivate such desperate attempts to reach another country.