A Man Stowed Away On A Plane Wheel & He Survived A Flight From Africa To Amsterdam

A man stowed away in the wheel well of the plane on a flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam this month, and he somehow survived a journey that has proven deadly for many others.

The stowaway was found on a cargo flight that departed from South Africa and travelled to the Netherlands, reportedly making a stop in Nairobi, Kenya, along the way.

When the man was found at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, he was still breathing and was given immediate medical attention.

By the time an ambulance arrived on the scene, his body temperature had increased, and he was able to speak enough to answer basic questions, according to BBC News.

It's unclear whether the man boarded the flight in Johannesburg or Nairobi. His nationality and age have not been disclosed as of yet.

It's a surprising tale of survival, because stowaways rarely survive flights that long. A typical flight from Johannesburg to Nairobi is around 4 hours, while the Nairobi-Amsterdam leg would have taken almost 9 hours. The wheel section of a plane is not insulated or pressurized, so the man would've faced extreme cold and low oxygen levels at high altitudes for several hours.

In just the past five years, seven stowaways have been found by Dutch authorities, and only two have survived, according to The New York Times.

Robert van Kapel, a spokesperson for the Dutch military police, said that they are going to investigate the man's case and determine if he was trying to cross borders illegally or if this is a case of human smuggling.

"We want to know who he is, where he came from, how he got onto the plane, and how he was able to survive," said van Kapel.

A lot of the time, stowaways either fall to their death or freeze to death, according to a U.S. government study on stowaways.

The temperatures at altitudes as high as 39,000 feet can drop to -65 C (-85 F), so surviving that is extremely rare.

The stowaway was found on a flight operated by Cargolux Italia, as confirmed by an email from the freight company to Reuters.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.