Teenage stowaway survives flight across Pacific in jet wheel well

Boy escapes unharmed despite losing consciousness after hiding in freezing conditions on flight from California to Hawaii

theguardian.com, Jonathan Haynes and agencies, Monday 21 April 2014

The boy is taken away in an ambulance at Kahului airport in Maui, Hawaii,
 after stowing away in the wheel well of a flight from San Jose, California.
Photograph: Chris Sugidono/AP

A teenage runaway has survived a five-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean stowed away in the freezing wheel well of a jet plane.

Officials said it was a "miracle" the 16-year-old boy did not die after he quickly lost consciousness as temperatures dropped to as low as -62C (-80F) in the compartment on the flight from California to Hawaii.

He was discovered on the tarmac at Kahului airport in Maui, Hawaii, with no identification after jumping down from the wheel well and wandering around the airport grounds.

He had run away from his family after an argument, officials said.

Security footage from the San Jose airport, where the flight originated, showed that the boy hopped over a fence to get to Hawaiian Airlines flight 45 on Sunday morning.

FBI special agent Tom Simon said: "It's just an apparent miracle … There was no appearance of any special gear of any sort. He was unconscious for the lion's share of the flight."

Simon said the boy was medically screened and found to be unharmed. "[He] doesn't even remember the flight," Simon said. "It's amazing he survived that."

The boy, who will not be charged, has been referred to child protection services, he added.

Hawaiian Airlines said airline personnel noticed the boy on the ramp after the flight arrived and immediately notified airport security. "Our primary concern now is for the wellbeing of the boy, who is exceptionally lucky to have survived," it added.

In August, a 13- or 14-year-old boy in Nigeria survived a 35-minute trip in the wheel well of a domestic flight after stowing away. Authorities credited the flight's short duration with his survival.

Others stowing away in wheel wells have died, including a 16-year-old killed after stowing away on board a flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston in 2010 and a man who fell on to a suburban London street from a flight from Angola in 2012.

Related Articles:

Plane stowaway shown in Hawaii airport video - New

Teenage stowaway who survived flight in jet wheel well leaves Hawaii