Body found in Boeing landing gear wheel at Maui airport on Christmas Eve

La police de Maui, à Hawaï, a rapporté la découverte d’un corps sans vie dans le train d’atterrissage d’un avion de la compagnie United Airlines pendant le réveillon de Noël.

Police in Maui, Hawaii, said Wednesday they are investigating after a body was found in the landing gear of a plane upon arrival at Kahului Airport, according to ABC News.

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“The Maui Police Department is currently conducting an active investigation into a deceased individual discovered on a flight from the mainland (Chicago, editor's note) this afternoon,”, authorities said in a statement.

The aircraft, a Boeing 787 operated by United Airlines, arrived from Chicago on December 24. The airline confirmed to the American media that the body was found in a wheel of the landing gear, an area normally only accessible from the outside.

The circumstances that led to the victim ending up there and his identity remain unknown for the moment.

Chances of survival extremely low

The American aviation regulator, quoted by the New York Times, stresses that low oxygen levels and freezing temperatures make the chances of survival extremely low for people who would try to travel in these compartments.

But, exceptional cases exist. In 2021, a man survived a flight from Guatemala to Miami by hiding in the landing gear. More recently, in December 2023, a young man was discovered in a state of severe hypothermia in a landing gear at Orly airport.