Discovery Made On British Airways Plane At LAX

For the second time this month, the body of a stowaway has been found in the landing gear wheelwell of a commercial airliner on US soil. Authorities at Los Angeles International Airport say the body of a young South African teen was found inside the wheel well of a British Airways 747-400.

The Los Angeles Times reports one of the plane's pilots found the body during a pre-flight walkaround, and notified officials about 4:30 pm Sunday. The airliner had flown in from London an hour earlier... and was scheduled to fly back there Sunday evening.

Officials aren't sure where, when, and how the teen managed to get onto the plane.

As Aero-News reported, a Senegali man was found dead in the wheel well of a Delta Air Lines 767 after it landed in Atlanta January 12, from a flight from Johannesburg via Dakar.

Attempts to stow onboard an airliner via holding onto the plane's landing gear are well documented... and alas, often end the same way. Cold temperatures, heavy moving parts and a lack of oxygen make it nearly impossible for humans to withstand any length of time at higher altitudes in a nonpressurized area of a plane.

Still, many persons in developing nations -- often attempting to escape poverty, war, or both -- either aren't aware of the dangers, or figure it's worth the risk.

Amazingly, a few have survived. A man survived a 2000 flight from French Polynesia to Los Angeles. When authorities found him, his core body temperature was a staggering 79 degrees Fahrenheit... nearly 20 degrees below normal, and well below what is usually fatal to humans. In 2002, a Cuban man was found alive in a plane's wheel well in Montreal.

FMI: www.britishairways.com