Incident: Delta Airlines B772 at Tokyo on Feb 7th 2010, stowaway found dead
By Simon Hradecky, created Sunday, Feb 7th 2010 16:25Z, last updated Sunday, Feb 7th 2010 16:57Z
A Delta Airlines Boeing 777-200, registration N867DA performing flight DL-59 (dep Feb 6th) from New York JFK,NY (USA) to Tokyo Narita (Japan) with officially 193 people on board, had seemingly performed an uneventful flight and landed safely.
In a post flight inspection a mechanics found a dead black male stowaway in the left main gear bay.
Japanese Police have opened an investigation and currently assume, that the person got into the gear bay in New York and froze to death and/or died from hypoxia. No injuries have been found.
??? I can understand the need and want to get out of a communist or third world nation, but having to do that to escape the United States? Man, our country is in bad shape.
It would have to be assumed that he got in at JFK…you would think that with so many people walking around the gear bays, post-flight, and most importantly the pilots’ [walkaround] pre-flight inspection would have discovered him if he was frozen/dead/attached to the interior well, before the flight to Tokyo…right? Either way…somebody dropped the ball on this, airport security, ground crew…etc
No one would’ve have been able to see up into the main gear well during the JFK turn unless a maintenance tech opened the well doors. It’s not something that is usually done during a normal turn.
It’s a huge space and virtually impossible to see up into from standing anywhere on the ground. If you look at THIS pic, you’ll see what I mean. For a size reference, note the two chaps standing in front of the #1 engine.
Yeah, but how much room is in there once the door’s closed and you’re sharing that space with 6 tires and the associated assembly? I bet that guy didn’t think about that before he climbed up in there (in addition to several other things apparently).
Yeah, depending on whether or not that Nigeria rumor is true or not and assuming he’s not American, there’s no telling how many gear ups (compactions) that took place in that well. Hydraulics don’t tend to have alot of “give” either. That probably was a slightly uncomfortable experience.
