Passenger Found in Aircraft’s Landing Gear Compartment after Enduring a Journey at 12,000m Altitude and Below -50°C
An extraordinarily rare and seemingly implausible incident has been reported by international media. According to The Guardian, authorities recently found a man in his twenties on an Air Algerie flight from Oran (Algeria) to Orly Airport (Paris). Notably, the discovery was made during a post-flight technical inspection by maintenance personnel.
The specific location where the mysterious man was found was beneath the aircraft’s landing gear compartment. Upon discovery, the man was in a critically hypothermic condition and was rushed to an emergency hospital. Fortunately, he survived, but his life was endangered due to severe hypothermia.
According to information from aviation authorities, the average altitude of the flight from Oran to Orly ranges from 9,000 to 12,000 meters. At this altitude, temperatures can drop below -50°C. Under such extreme conditions in the landing gear compartment, it would be extremely challenging for any normal person to survive.
The initial suspicion of authorities is that the man clandestinely entered the technical compartment of the Air Algerie aircraft to escape to France as part of an illegal migration journey. According to data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), there have been 132 cases of individuals stowing away in the landing gear compartment of commercial aircraft, hoping to escape political persecution or seek opportunities in a different land, between 1947 and 2021.
In April, the remains of a man were discovered in the wheel well of an aircraft at Amsterdam Airport, Netherlands. The flight originated from Nigeria. Four months earlier, two individuals were found dead in the cargo hold of a flight from Santiago, Chile, to Bogota, Colombia.
In July 2019, the body of a man fell into a garden in suburban London. It was believed that he had departed before, and when the aircraft lowered its landing gear in preparation for landing, the victim fell to the ground.
