Body found in plane’s landing gear after Schiphol arrival

A body found in the landing gear of an aircraft at Schiphol Airport may have been that of a stowaway. The plane had departed from Lagos, Nigeria, and arrived in Amsterdam on Monday morning, said the Marechaussee.

The military branch’s Schiphol policing service was working with forensic investigators to identify the person and the circumstances which lead to their death.

The body was found in a KLM aircraft, a spokesperson confirmed to newswire ANP. The lack of oxygen at altitude, and the cold temperatures experienced during a flight while hidden at the landing gear make it so that stowaways rarely survive.

Earlier this year, a stowaway was found in a wheel arch of an airplane at the airport in Maastricht. The 16-year old boy hid in the landing gear of an airplane flying from London to Maastricht Aachen Airport. He survived sub-zero temperatures on an hour-long flight and was admitted to hospital with severe hypothermia symptoms.