Stowaway found dead in landing gear on KLM flight from Canada to Amsterdam
Authorities at Schiphol Airport said a man was found dead in the landing gear of a KLM aircraft after it arrived at the airport outside of Amsterdam. The man is believed to be a stowaway who was hiding in the airplane's wheel well, the Marechaussee military branch confirmed on Monday
The aircraft involved had flown from an unspecified Canadian city to Amsterdam, according to ANP. However, the same aircraft had recently been on the ground in Lagos, Nigeria before it was sent to Canada.
It was not yet clear at what point the man first climbed into the landing gear mechanism, a Marechaussee spokesperson told AD. It is also not clear in which city the man entered the airplane. No crime is suspected.
"The investigation is still ongoing and we are trying to find out the identity of the victim so that the family can be informed," a spokesperson told the Telegraaf.
Almost exactly two years ago, a dead man was found in the wheel well of a flight that traveled from Lagos to Amsterdam. However, stowaways are not always found deceased. A 16-year-old from Kenya was found alive in the landing gear of a plane that flew from London to Maastricht, and he later applied for asylum.
"Sometimes someone is taken out alive, but it often has a bad outcome given the sharp drop in temperature in the air," the spokesperson told AD. It can fall to -50 degrees Celsius on longer flights, and the oxygen levels drop to dangerous levels.
