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One in four plane stowaways can survive, but London case is astonishing One in four plane stowaways can survive, but London case is astonishing
(about 7 hours later)
Given the number of desperate people attempting to reach Europe by land or sea on incredibly risky journeys, stowaways on aircraft are comparatively rare. But security at airports is usually tighter than at other borders, and the risks of an attempt are enormous, with the prospects of survival remote.Given the number of desperate people attempting to reach Europe by land or sea on incredibly risky journeys, stowaways on aircraft are comparatively rare. But security at airports is usually tighter than at other borders, and the risks of an attempt are enormous, with the prospects of survival remote.
Related: Stowaway fell to death from plane on to London office after 8,000-mile flightRelated: Stowaway fell to death from plane on to London office after 8,000-mile flight
The fact that one of the two men who secreted themselves on the eight-hour BA flight from Johannesburg to London Heathrow has survived the journey, albeit in a serious condition in hospital, is astonishing. While neither the airline nor the police have yet confirmed it, the most likely scenario is that the stowaways would have hidden in the landing gear of the plane, exposing themselves to temperatures of -50C to -60C.The fact that one of the two men who secreted themselves on the eight-hour BA flight from Johannesburg to London Heathrow has survived the journey, albeit in a serious condition in hospital, is astonishing. While neither the airline nor the police have yet confirmed it, the most likely scenario is that the stowaways would have hidden in the landing gear of the plane, exposing themselves to temperatures of -50C to -60C.
There have been occasional previous recorded cases of people making it alive, on shorter flights at lower altitudes. That depends on the ability to survive low temperatures, and to cling on and remain conscious when the wheels come down on the approach to the airport. One of the two men on the BA flight appears to have been beyond the point of endurance by the time it was on its descent over Richmond, his body falling on to shops below. There have been occasional previous recorded cases of people making it alive, on shorter flights at lower altitudes. A 20-year-old Romanian man made it to Heathrow from Vienna in 2010, concealed in the undercarriage of a private jet that flew comparatively low, in air still thick enough for lungs to function.
US Federal Aviation Authority records suggest that at best one in four stowaways survives. Others die or fall in transit; most survivors suffer severe frostbite. But normally the combination of cold, lack of oxygen and air pressure experienced at a plane’s cruising height, outside the artificially maintained conditions of the cabin, would prove fatal.
Thursday’s tragic incident recalls the death of José Matada, who made a similarly desperate attempt to reach the UK from Angola in 2012, his body found on a pavement in East Sheen in south-west London. An inquest found he was either dead or at the point of death due to hypothermia and lack of oxygen when he fell from the plane. If they can withstand the flight, the stowaways need to cling on and remain conscious when the wheels come down on the approach to the airport. One of the two men on the BA flight appears to have been beyond the point of endurance by the time the plane was on its descent over Richmond, his body falling on to shops below.
Airport security is normally extremely tight, even in places where security outside the terminal is a problem. Airline and airport staff would normally perform pre-flight checks, including inspection of the wheel well, although airlines say security is ultimately the airport’s responsibility. Passengers and workers face numerous checks. But airport perimeter fences are also often surrounded by the poorest housing. US Federal Aviation Authority records suggest that, at best, one in four stowaways survives. Others die or fall in transit; some are crushed when the mechanised landing gear retracts into the wheel well; most survivors suffer severe hypothermia or frostbite, often losing limbs.
Thursday’s tragic incident recalls the death of José Matada, who made a similarly desperate attempt to reach the UK from Angola in 2012, His body was found on a pavement in East Sheen in south-west London and an inquest found he was either dead or at the point of death due to hypothermia and lack of oxygen when he fell from the plane.
Airport security is normally extremely tight, even in places where security outside the terminal is a problem. Airline and airport staff would normally perform pre-flight checks, including inspection of the wheel well, although airlines say security is ultimately the airport’s responsibility. Passengers and workers face numerous checks. But airport perimeter fences are often surrounded by the worst poverty, such as the shanty towns in Luanda, the Angolan airport from where that last reported Heathrow-bound stowaway flew.
Related: Stowaway death of man who died with a single pound in his pocketRelated: Stowaway death of man who died with a single pound in his pocket
The last such incident on an arrival into Heathrow saw Luanda, the originating airport in the Angolan capital, say it would tighten security by having all international flights followed by a security patrol vehicle for evening departures, keeping the undercarriage in plain view. The Angolan capital responded to that event by tightening security to have all international flights followed by a security patrol vehicle for evening departures, keeping the plane’s undercarriage in full view.
That this incident appears to have originated in Johannesburg, a major international airport, will worry airport security experts, who have pointed out that if a stowaway can reach a plane’s exterior and hide, planting an explosive could also be possible. That this latest incident appears to have originated in Johannesburg, a major international airport, will worry airport security experts, who have pointed out that if a stowaway can reach a plane’s exterior and hide, planting an explosive could also be possible.