A stowaway, he survived a 9,000 km journey in the landing gear of an airplane


His chances of survival were slim and yet, this stowaway was found alive after traveling 9,000 km in the landing gear of a cargo plane. Departing from Johannesburg, South Africa, the aircraft landed in Amsterdam this Sunday, January 23.

A flight which, on average, lasts 11 hours. An interminable time in these travel conditions. However, the unidentified man “was taken to hospital in stable condition,” said Joanne Helmonds, spokeswoman for the Royal Dutch Military Police.

A high-risk trip

“It is quite remarkable” that this stowaway “is still alive”, she confirms. Indeed, from a certain altitude, temperatures drop drastically. People who hide in the landing gear of planes risk dying from hypothermia but also from lack of oxygen. They may also fall out of the device.

The man in question escaped all of this, but others paid the trip with their lives. Last year, Dutch border police discovered the body of a Nigerian man in the undercarriage of a plane arriving at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

However, stowaways on flights to the Netherlands remain rare, assures Joanne Helmonds. When this happens, it is usually people from Nigeria and Kenya.



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