Body found in United Airlines 747 wheel well

Tram said:
Actually, there is a documented case of a guy doing it and living.. :)

Not sure from where.. want to say Cuba to Canada..
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Ha, I remember hearing about that. I'm pretty sure he was on Air France flight, but I don't remember where they reported that he came from. Crazy.
 
MQAAord said:
If they're lucky enough to escape being smooshed (and it is possible, albeit unlikely, to avoid the gear), then they usually succumb to hypoxia. Also, it's COLD up there! Freezing in an issue too.

In general, it's best to ride inside the plane.
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According to the local news, this guy had bundled up in anticipation of the cold, but either it wasn't enough or he didn't survive the hypoxia.

From SFGate.com:

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said that since 1947 there have been 74 known stowaway attempts involving 64 flights worldwide, including Thursday's incident. He said 60 of the 74 people have died, or 80 percent.

(from the same article)
...Other stowaways have narrowly survived the flight, including a man who lived through a flight from Tahiti to Los Angeles in 2000, arriving with a body temperature of 79 degrees. He was later repatriated to Tahiti, though a Cuban man who rode the wheel of a DC-10 to Montreal in 2002 was granted asylum.
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Anyone remember when Matrix was on the nose gear of that Western DC-10?

Even he was smart enough to rethink stowing away on a plane landing gear!
 
There are a lot of cases where people have made it by hiding in the landing gear. Problem is it's had to say how many because they were not caught - only those that don't make it are "caught" and documented.
 
Mechanics found what appears to be a man's body inside the wheel well of the nose gear during a post-flight inspection of United Flight 858, which arrived this morning from Shanghai around 8 a.m., McCarron said.
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Sounds like the gear monster got him.
 
MikeBurbank said:
stupid question:

Do they get smooshed or have oxygen issues?
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I know others have answered this, but here's a bit more info. If this flight came from Shanghai to SFO, it likely came across in the high 30s. At FL 350, the "time of useful consciousness" is 30 seconds to 1 minute! So oxygen is issue #1.

The second thing is the temperature, as MQAAoRd said. You're looking at -40 degrees up there. You can't "bundle up" for -40 temps! Granted, inside the wheel well, there may be SOME warmth, but so little as to be irrelevant.

AND there's that whole "smooshing" thing, too! ;)
 
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