Los Angeles: A person was found dead in the wheel well of a United Airlines plane after it landed at an airport in US Hawaii, according to the company and local news outlets.
“Upon arrival at Kahului airport in Maui on Tuesday, a body was found in the wheel well of one of the main landing gears on a United aircraft,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that it is working with law enforcement authorities on the investigation.
The company said it is still not clear how or when the person accessed the wheel well, noting that the wheel well was only accessible from outside of the plane, Xinhua news agency reported.
The body was reportedly discovered on a Boeing 787-10 aircraft departed from Chicago’s O’Hare airport. It was in one of the compartments that houses the airplane’s landing gear when United Flight 202 from Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
The Maui Police Department is currently conducting an active investigation regarding the deceased individual discovered, reported local news outlet Hawaii News Now.
Officials said operations at the airport are normal and not affected by this incident, according to the report.
Low oxygen levels in wheel storage compartments and extreme temperatures as flights climb to cruising altitudes make surviving in the wheel wells or other areas of commercial aircrafts rare, the Federal Aviation Administration has previously said. The agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The police did not say on Tuesday that the person who was found dead on Maui was a stowaway. Others have died over the years after being in the landing gear compartment.
(IANS)
