A 13-year-old Afghan boy reached Delhi from Kabul after sneaking into an aircraft’s landing gear compartment, officials said.
13-year-old boy from Afghanistan made a life-threatening decision to stow away on a flight from Kabul to Delhi. According to an exclusive news report by The New Indian Express, the teenager wanted to sneak into Iran, but in a mix-up, he boarded the wrong flight, operated by KAM Air. The boy hid in the rear wheel well of an Airbus A340 and survived the entire 94-minute flight. The flight left Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport at 8:46 AM IST and landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 10:20 AM. After the plane landed, the boy was found walking in a restricted area near the plane, and airport authorities were immediately alerted.
How did he survive?
Stowing away in the wheel well of an aircraft is extremely dangerous. The conditions at 30,000 feet, such as lack of oxygen, freezing temperatures, and the risk of being crushed by the wheels, make survival almost impossible. Aviation expert Captain Mohan Ranganathan explained that the boy likely found an enclosed, pressurized space in the wheel bay.
“The door of the wheel well closes after takeoff, and the temperature may have been better inside, closer to the passenger cabin conditions,” he said. This may have helped him survive the flight. Dr Ritin Mohindra, a medical expert, added that at higher altitudes, oxygen levels drop and temperatures can reach -60°C, causing unconsciousness and even death. It’s a miracle the boy made it through. Stowing away in the wheel well is an extremely dangerous act, and the survival rate for such stowaways is very low. Only 1 in 5 people who attempt this survive, due to the severe cold, lack of oxygen, and the risk of falling or being crushed by the landing gear.
Second stowaway incident in India
This is the second known case of a stowaway at an Indian airport. The first incident occurred in 1996 when two brothers stowed away on a British Airways flight from Delhi to London. One of them survived, but the other tragically died during the flight.