Stowaway Found Dead in Landing Gear of American Airlines Jet at Charlotte Douglas Airport

A dead body was discovered in the landing gear of an American Airlines airplane at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Sunday morning. The aircraft had just arrived from Europe, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

In a statement, the CMPD said officers were called to a maintenance hangar at the airport shortly after 9 am on September 28, to reports that a stowaway had been found in the landing gear of an American Airlines plane.

The aircraft was undergoing routine maintenance when engineers made the gruesome discovery. It is not known how long the body had been in the landing gear.

American Airlines serves six destinations in Europe from Charlotte Douglas Airport with daily services to Frankfurt and Munich in Germany, a daily service to Dublin, Ireland, and Rome, Italy, as well as a daily service to Madrid, Spain, and a three-times-per-day service to London Heathrow.

“Homicide Unit detectives responded to the scene to conduct an investigation, and Crime Scene Search responded to process the scene and collect physical evidence. Representatives from CMPD’s Operations Command and MEDIC also assisted,” the CMPD statement added.

“The investigation into this case is active and ongoing. As additional information develops, it will be released by the CMPD’s Public Affairs Office.”

American Airlines declined to divulge any further information, simply saying in a short statement: “We are working with law enforcement on its investigation.”

The fact that the body was discovered after the plane landed back from Europe does not, however, necessarily mean that is where the stowaway originated from.

There have been two recent cases in which dead bodies have been found in the landing gears of US aircraft following domestic flights, although the bodies had likely been in the landing gear for some time before they were discovered.

Last December, the body of a dead stowaway was found in the main landing gear of a United Airlines Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner that had just arrived in Maui, Hawaii, following a flight from Chicago O’Hare.

The aircraft had, however, recently been in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which is an airport at risk of stowaway activity.

And in January, a dead body was found in the landing gear of a JetBlue Airbus A320 that had just landed at Fort Lauderdale Airport following a three-hour flight from New York.

The aircraft had recently flown to Jamaica, which is, again, a destination at risk of stowaway attempts.

During a flight from Europe, a stowaway hiding in the landing gear of a widebody aircraft such as the Boeing 777 would be exposed to extreme temperatures ranging from -58°F to -76°F.

In addition, they would also have to battle hypoxia, which could lead to unconsciousness and death.

Tragically, most stowaway attempts in the landing gear of commercial aircraft end in serious injury or death. However, earlier this month, a 13-year-old Afghan boy miraculously survived a flight from Kabul to New Delhi in the landing gear of an Airbus A340 jet that flew at altitudes of 35,000 feet.

The boy was found wandering on the tarmac at Delhi airport shortly after the Kam Air flight had landed. He was said to be in good health and told airport security that he had snuck onboard the plane “out of curiosity.”

The boy was deported back to Afghanistan on the same plane he had arrived on – although this time, in the passenger cabin.