This one won’t be seeking asylum.

“The body of a stowaway who fell into the garden of a suburban London house from a jet as it passed overhead narrowly missed the homeowner, neighbours revealed.

Police and airline officials say the man fell from the landing gear of the plane as it approached London's Heathrow Airport after a nine-hour flight from Nairobi, Kenya.

The Metropolitan Police force confirmed the body of an unidentified man was found in a south London garden on Sunday, and it's believed he fell from a plane.

He has not yet been identified and his age is also not known as this stage, authorities said.

A bag, water and food were discovered in the plane's landing-gear compartment.

The corpse of the unnamed man was found in the residential property in Clapham, south London, at around 3.30pm, police said.

Neighbours told today how the resident was enjoying the warm weather in his back garden of their £2.3 million home when the body hit the ground just feet away…”

https://mol.im/a/7201733

I've thought of several responses -- all of which would be in very bad taste.

This hasn't happened in a while.

IIRC, in the mid-90s there was a spate of bodies found in the landing gear of jets flying into Europe from third world countries.

Can you imagine having a body at terminal velocity impact a few feet away?

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:


A bag, water and food were discovered in the plane's landing-gear compartment.

Whoops. Forgot his parka and oxygen supply.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
This hasn't happened in a while.

IIRC, in the mid-90s there was a spate of bodies found in the landing gear of jets flying into Europe from third world countries.

Can you imagine having a body at terminal velocity impact a few feet away?

Didn't someone stowaway from CA to HI a year or two ago, but survived the flight?

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
This hasn't happened in a while.

It happens all the time.

There was a time that armed vehicles would follow us onto the runway in Lagos, due to stowaways attempting to run up to the gear and climb aboard as the aircraft lined up for takeoff, and would often meet us at the runway and escort us to parking. Last time I was in Lagos, I didn't see them, though we were in the middle of the night. It used to be regular fare there to ensure that our personal bags were taken up to the cockpit, because there was a good chance they'd be stolen off the main deck while we were parked.

It looks like a lot of room in those gear bays, but anyone who climbs up there will be crushed, and if they happen to survive that, the cold and the lack of oxygen will do them in. It's -54 degrees at altitude.

I'll be in Nairobi again in a few days. A stowaway out of there isn't in the least bit surprising. That's true of most places in Africa, really.

A MD11 landed in Harare a few years ago on a "technical" stop for fuel, enroute to South Africa. Someone noticed streaks from one of the pack (air conditioning) doors on the side of the airplane, and upon opening, a body fell out. A stoaway had made it into the nose gear area, then worked back into one of the two "tunnels" that contain the bleed air ducts. Bleed air is very hot. This guy had passed out and died and lay roasting against one of the ducts for probably a day and a half or more. He was there into Europe, then back out again.

To make it more interesting, the airpalne was carrying a considerable amount of cash that had been printed in Europe and was being taken to South Africa, as an official transfer. The aircraft was white with no other markings than the registration number: a chartered cargo aircraft. Some of the conspiracists out there went nuts with pictures and videos, and suddently it became a secret CIA flight with cash and bodies and intrigue. In reality it was just a coincidence and a stowaway...but like I said, it happens all the time. It usually doesn't make the papers.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

Didn't someone stowaway from CA to HI a year or two ago, but survived the flight?

Not in a landing gear well.

quote:

Neighbours told today how the resident was enjoying the warm weather in his back garden of their £2.3 million home when the body hit the ground just feet away…”

"By George, Anabelle, it's raining pitchforks out here!"

Hard to say what killed him, but I suspect oxygen deprivation and exposure were vying for top honors. The fall was just the equivalent of dumping out the trash when the landing gear came down.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Shugart:

quote:

Neighbours told today how the resident was enjoying the warm weather in his back garden of their £2.3 million home when the body hit the ground just feet away…”

"By George, Anabelle, it's raining pitchforks out here!"

"The Gods Must Be Crazy III" (2019)

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Hard to say what killed him, but I suspect oxygen deprivation and exposure were vying for top honors. The fall was just the equivalent of dumping out the trash when the landing gear came down.

More like dumping out a five and a half foot block of ice.

From the linked article.

quote:

Originally posted by Captain Obvious:
"His head was not in a good way. I realised immediately that he had fallen."

And to add to what sns3 said, God help them if they do get found as a stowaway before the flight.

One of my coworkers spotted a guy up in the gear well of his plane before a flight. The guards were so embarrassed by the discovery that they proceeded to beat the guy mostly to death right on the ramp. My buddy is pretty sure the stowaway did not make it off the property still breathing.

This was in Lagos as well.

^^^^ I am laughing so hard at the reference to Shawn of the Dead....OMG this place is the best!!!

At least I’m not the only disturbed person on the planet

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
This hasn't happened in a while.

IIRC, in the mid-90s there was a spate of bodies found in the landing gear of jets flying into Europe from third world countries.

Can you imagine having a body at terminal velocity impact a few feet away?

Didn't someone stowaway from CA to HI a year or two ago, but survived the flight?

Allegedly so. According to wiki (I know) some 86% of those who try die but survivors have been found. The linked article (about the guy from CA to HI) also gives some theory on how it’s possible.

https://www.usatoday.com/story...away-flight/7953325/

I attended a homicide seminar in the early 80's where the ME from Miami spoke. It was surprisingly common back then for stowaways to get in the wheel well somewhere in South America and come crashing onto cars in rush hour traffic during final. I guess a frozen stiff can do some real damage to a car at terminal velocity

Did he still accumulate frequent flier miles?