Maastricht stowaway a 16 y.o. boy; Doing reasonably well

A stowaway found in the wheel arch of an airplane at Maastricht airport on Thursday, is believed to be a 16-year-old boy from Kenya. He is still in hospital, but is doing reasonably well, a spokesperson for the Koninklijke Marechaussee, a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military and is responsible for airport security, said to NU.nl.

"It remains astonishing that he was able to make this trip and that he survived it," the spokesperson said. Stowing away in the landing gear of a plane is usually fatal, due to the lack of oxygen and extremely low temperatures at low altitudes. It is also extraordinarily difficult to not fall off the wheel arch when the plane is taking off.

The boy hid in the landing gear of an airplane that flew from London to Maastricht Aachen Airport on Thursday. He was found after the vehicle landed and rushed to hospital with severe hypothermia.