Body found in landing gear bay on BA B744 @ LAX

[4HolerPoler]

A terrible way to die -

The body of a male stowaway was found in the wheel well of a British Airways jet at Los Angeles International Airport, officials said. A pilot discovered the body of the young man in the front right wheel well of the 747-400 during a routine inspection shortly before it was to return to London on Sunday, airport spokesperson Nancy Castles said. The FBI determined the stowaway likely died in the wheel well, Castles said. Post-mortem results won't be available until later this week. Authorities had not identified the victim late on Sunday. The aircraft, British Airways Flight 283, had arrived from London Heathrow Airport at 15:15 (23:14 GMT) and was scheduled to depart at 17:20 (01:20 GMT Monday). The airline notified officials of the discovery just before 16:30 (00:30 GMT Monday), Castles said.

Investigators were trying to determine where the stowaway boarded the plane. "These aircraft don't go on a fixed route," said Alan Proud, a spokesperson for British Airways. "It would have been somewhere else in the world before that. That's part of the investigation, to look at where the aircraft had been before." On January 12, the body of a young African man was discovered in the wheel well of a Delta plane that landed in Atlanta from Dakar, Senegal. Authorities determined that the man hid in the plane in Senegal and was suffocated to death by the landing gear.

[747-436]

It would be highly unlikely that the stowaway came on at Heathrow so he could have been in there a while!!
Lucky it didn't drop out when the gear came down!

[ORAC]

.....Authorities said the youth was black and had documents identifying him as a South African national born in 1989.....

[Taildragger67]

Originally Posted by 747-436

It would be highly unlikely that the stowaway came on at Heathrow so he could have been in there a while!!
Lucky it didn't drop out when the gear came down!

So logically he's been into and out of EGLL at least once. Could one not reasonably ask why he was not detected there?

But indeed, not a good way to go.

[ChristiaanJ]

Originally Posted by 747-436

It would be highly unlikely that the stowaway came on at Heathrow so he could have been in there a while!!
Lucky it didn't drop out when the gear came down!

That's happened too....
Sorry, no link, but not very long ago a body was found in a field under the LHR approach path. Almost certainly fell out when the gear was lowered.

Poor desperate people.....

[TopBunk]

The LAX flights depart from LHR Terminal 1, as do those to JNB, NRT and HKG. Most of the time the aircraft will carry out rotations from T1; so an ealry morning arrival from HKG or JNB will be scheduled out to NRT or LAX.

I would therefore not be surprised if the unfortunate young man originated in JNB.

[TheOddOne]

We had a spate of these at LGW a few years ago - 3 in fact, do things really go in threes?

2 were dangling from noselegs - bad enough for me who had to attend but worst I think for the ground crew meeting the aircraft to be confronted with the body as the a/c taxies on to stand. The 3rd was found on the runway, obviously falling out as the gear doors recycled on departure. Particularly rotten for our staff who only had it reported to them as debris on the runway. It was even worse as it was Christmas Day.

The one that got to me was a 12-yr old boy from Nairobi; having young children myeslf. A Police Inspector from Gatwick went out to Nairobi to try and get information and ensure the next-of-kin were informed but was given no help at all from the Kenyan authorities; just another death amongst so many, it seems.

There needs to be a world-wide education campaign telling everyone that this doesn't work; you will die, most probably from being crushed as the gear retracts. There looks to be heaps of room with the gear down but it all disappears on retraction. If that doesn't get you, hypoxia and hypothermia will.

TheOddOne

[Cuillin]

I remember the Gatwick one on Christmas Day 2000, OddOne.

Departing BA 777 on 08R. Aircraft had earlier come in from Africa. He had not been spotted on the turnround at LGW. Took some time before he was moved from 26L threshold. I suppose Coroners are difficult to get hold of on Christmas morning.

On Africa night departures I always leave all the taxi/exit lights on in order to have a fighting chance of spotting them if they run out.They are most likely to give it a go as you are sat at the holding point for departure.

Very, very sad.

[HAWK21M]

Lack of Knowledge of MWW Clearences,Retracting Gears & Pressurisation requirements a cause here.
Sad Case.
I've seen Birds in MWWs on Arrival.Hoping never to notice a case like this ever.
regds
MEL

[bomarc]

while this is certainly a sad situation, the bigger question is:

how bad is security and preflight inspections that people have access to the plane...this person could have easily put a bomb onboard as himself.

does anyone else remember world airways evacuating Vietnam and people hanging from the landing gear...the pilots wisely kept it extended and flew low and slow.

[Carnage Matey!]

I take it you don't fly to Africa often? Plenty of places for the stowaway to get through the perimeter fence and run to the aircraft.

[Taildragger67]

while this is certainly a sad situation, the bigger question is:

how bad is security and preflight inspections that people have access to the plane...this person could have easily put a bomb onboard as himself.

My point exactly, but also - assuming the unfortunate individual had got himself into the wheel well at an out-station, how was he not detected when the a/c got back to base?

It's not only the getting through the perimeter fence I'm asking about, but also the checks at subsequent stations. By all concerned.

[Carnage Matey!]

It rather depends where the body is. The 744 wheel well is very big, can be very dark and much of it is not visible from the ground. Easy to miss something.

[rhythm method]

But if the aircraft then transited LHR en-route to LAX, does this not imply that a thorough external pre-flight check was not carried out? Surely, both the PF and the ground crew perform a walkround prior to each and every departure?
Obviously I have never flown anything as big as a 744, so perhaps there are hiding places 'out-of-sight' in the gear bay?
Nasty way to go though.

EDITED as I see others were answering the same question I was in the process of posting.

[Gonzo]

People do try and stow away at Heathrow.

I remember working when a BA 747 was lined up on the threshold of 27L about to go, and another a/c waiting at the hold came on frequency warning of a man who had scaled the perimeter fence by Hatton Cross and was sprinting towards the 747. The man disappeared up into the nosewheel bay.

Eventually he was apprehended by a combined Police and Airport Ops rugby scrum!

[primreamer]

In all probability a thorough pre flight inspection was carried out at LHR prior to departure by engineering/flight crew and indeed at the down route stations that the aircraft previously visited. The fact that a stowaway remained undetected does not mean these checks were actioned without due care. On most large passenger aircraft, with the exception of the B737, it is simply not possible to see into the wheel wells from ground level with the gear doors closed. Even with access steps positioned your view is still limited in many cases. The only sure way to see is to open the gear doors and this is not usually a routine requirement on pre flight/transit checks.

[Flip Flop Flyer]

The only sure way to see is to open the gear doors and this is not usually a routine requirement on pre flight/transit checks.

Therefore, a procedure whereby the gear bay doors are cycled should perhaps be considered? Or is this an impractical proposition? Could it, at the very least, be done on a regular basis when flights return to home base from places where stowaways have historically originated from?

A former ******** 747 skipper of my acquiantance, departing out of somewhere in Africa, received a message from ATC warning him of a possible stowaway, requesting he returned. As they'd been in the cruise for more than 1 hour, and was somewhere off the west coast of Africa, he found it impossible that the stowaway, if indeed onboard, would still be alive. So he reduced to max gear speed, cycled the gear, and continued on his way. Well, we were both drunk when he told the story, so could very well have been telling porkies. But what would you do in similar circumstances?

[Carnage Matey!]

Well I certainly wouldn't have considered the option of commiting murder by dropping the poor bugger out of the gear bay.

[TopBunk]

On the assumption that this young man did not originate in London, he had already remained in situ through at least one gear cycling event, so on that basis probably not worth cycling the gear in flight (to say nothing about the noise and upset it would cause the pax).

Best course of action, imho, would be to notify the authorities through company. They may then wish to send up a helicopter to observe the gear lowering on arrival, they may even have it done over an open area rather than on approach at 2000ft in case a body drops out.

[HAWK21M]

The B744 MWW is massive.Also during transit checks the MLG doors arer retacted.100% of the MWW inside is not visable.A person can hide out there & yet not be noticed by Grd staff.
regds
MEL