Stowaway's body found in 747 wheelwell

gasper · Post by **gasper** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:54 pm

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/01/29/lo ... index.html

Miss Mae · Post by **Miss Mae** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:57 pm

It's always sad to read things like that.

It's pretty scary too to see that security is relaxed enough that someone would be able to crawl in there without anyone noticing

200hr Wonder · Post by **200hr Wonder** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 3:10 pm

Would the wheel wells on a 747-400 be pressurized? Or did he die of hypoxia once the aircraft got high enough?

ettw · Post by **ettw** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 3:28 pm

Wheel wells are not pressurised. Probably hyoxia got him first but if not, he would have frozen to death.

Either way, not the trip he was planning I'm sure.

Cheers,

ETTW

the_professor · Post by **the_professor** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 5:06 pm

Darwin wins again.

Good thing he didn't have a bundle of C4 strapped to his waist with a pressure-sensitive fuse...

N2 · Post by N2 » Mon Jan 29, 2007 5:57 pm

Is there enough room for someone to be in the wheel well with the wheels retracted or would this be a squish job?

beechy · Post by **beechy** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 6:23 pm

People have survived this sort of thing before no?

swede · Post by **swede** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:35 pm

beechy wrote:People have survived this sort of thing before no?

People have survived this sort of thing, how desperate you would have to be to try it is beyond me.

shitdisturber · Post by **shitdisturber** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 8:56 pm

swede wrote:
beechy wrote:People have survived this sort of thing before no?
People have survived this sort of thing, how desperate you would have to be to try it is beyond me.

I seem to remember in the early 70's that people used to sneak out of Cuba in the wheel wells of 707's on a fairly regular basis. The flight being obviously short enough that a fair number of them survived.

beechy · Post by **beechy** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:06 pm

I thought so....I seem to remember reading something about hot air being blown into the wheel well or something.....I wonder if it would be enough to survive, ie not die from hypoxia.......damn it would be a bad way to fly though.......i can't imagine what people must have gone through to be motivated enough to do it.

ozone · Post by **ozone** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 10:16 pm

"Authorities determined that the man hid in the plane in Senegal and was suffocated to death by the landing gear."

I like how they say that. lol Im guessin he suffocated from hypoxia not the landing gear.

cptnCanada · Post by **cptnCanada** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:43 pm

Happened at pearson a couple years ago...

also happend in windsor a while back, but I cant find any link to the story[/url]

Expat · Post by **Expat** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:42 am

It probably happens a lot more often, and bodies get dumped over the water. One frozen body landed in a backyard in the US a while back!

Inverted2 · Post by **Inverted2** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:59 am

Is Britain bad enough you have to try and escape in the wheel well of a 747? Why not save a few hundred bucks and buy a ticket??

longjon · Post by **longjon** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:03 am

UH where in the UK is Senegal, sheezzzz

Expat · Post by **Expat** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:14 am

He was expecting a stewardess strike at BA...

Tui · Post by **Tui** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:22 pm

longjon wrote:UH where in the UK is Senegal, sheezzzz

You're getting the stories mixed up. The man from Senegal was a second incident that happened on the 12th. The original story said the flight came from Heathrow (on the 29th) though they didn't say where they thought the stowaway came from.

Cat Driver · Post by **Cat Driver** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:36 pm

UH where in the UK is Senegal, sheezzzz

Standing in the customs and immigration booths as you go through Heathrow and Gatwick?

blue_side_up · Post by **blue_side_up** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 12:08 pm

Lots of room for a mere human to fit in the nose wheel well of a 747, even with the gear retracted and doors closed. Would be pretty cosy, but I think the first challenge would be to survive the gear retraction sequence without being converted into tire food - nose wheel tires are spinning at around 160kts as the gear retracts, and are only braked by skid pads mounted in the forward of the gear bay, that contact the tires at the end of the retraction sequence. If you survive that then there's lots of space, but it starts to get pretty cold. Better have 3 pairs of woollen underwear and a touque or two for the -55C temps. If you can then survive the 6-10hr flight at that temp, you then have to cling on with frozen fingers as the gear lowers on final at 2-3000', and 180kts.
Good luck to anyone who trys it, but my money will be on the horse races.