A grim discovery at Kahului Airport in Maui has sparked an investigation after a dead body was found in the wheel well of a United Airlines aircraft, highlighting ongoing concerns about the dangerous practice of airplane stowaways.

The body was discovered on Tuesday afternoon following the arrival of United Flight 202 from Chicago O’Hare International Airport. “The wheel well was only accessible from outside of the aircraft. At this time, it is not clear how or when the person accessed the wheel well,” United Airlines stated in their official response.

Deadly conditions

Aviation experts note that wheel well stowaways face extreme and typically fatal conditions during flight. These include temperatures plummeting to between minus 50 and minus 60 degrees Celsius (minus 58 and minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit), coupled with severely limited oxygen at high altitudes. The compartment where the body was found houses the aircraft’s landing gear and remains unpressurized throughout the flight.

United Airlines has confirmed cooperating with authorities in the ongoing investigation, while the Federal Aviation Administration has yet to comment on the incident.

Rare survival stories

While this incident ended tragically, there have been remarkable cases of survival. In recent years, two notable incidents saw stowaways survive similar attempts. Last year, a person was found alive in the undercarriage bay of an Algerian aircraft in Paris. Another survivor was discovered in January 2022 in the wheel section of a Cargolux freight plane that landed at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport after flying from Africa.

The identity of the deceased and the circumstances leading to this incident remain under investigation. This case adds to the growing concerns about airport security and some individuals’ desperate measures to travel internationally.