Stephanie Heath
This may just be the luckiest boy alive. The 13-year-old boy decided to take a flight from Afghanistan to India. However, rather than boarding the plane, this young boy survives the 620-mile flight in the aircraft’s landing gear.
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The Details: According to The Indian Express, the 13-year-old wanted to travel from Afghanistan to Iran. However, he chose to stow away on the wrong aircraft. Rather than boarding an aircraft en route to Iran, the young boy climbed aboard a flight heading to Delhi, not Tehran.
- Reports indicate that the young boy snuck into the Kabul airport.
- From there, he followed a group of passengers and managed to stow away in the rear wheel of the aircraft.
- The only item he had with him was “a small red-coloured audio speaker.”
Boy Survives Flight In Aircraft’s Landing Gear
Naturally, flying in the rear wheel of an aircraft is not a safe method of travel. However, by some miracle, this young boy survived over 90 minutes and 620 miles in the aircraft’s landing gear. Reports indicate that he landed in Delhi unscathed.
- Upon landing, airport officials spotted the boy wandering around the tarmac in his pajamas.
- People Magazine shared that “the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which took him in for questioning.“
- After detailed questioning, he was sent back on a flight to Kabul.
A Truly Miraculous Event: It is honestly surprising that the young boy came out unscathed. The Indian Express shares data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). According to their data, “132 people tried to travel in the landing gear compartments of commercial aircraft between 1947 and 2021.”
Along with those foolish enough to try this method of travel comes a high mortality rate. The FAA shares that “the mortality rate for wheel well stowaways is estimated at around 77 percent.” Many people die from hypoxia due to a lack of sufficient oxygen. Others pass away from hypothermia due to freezing temperatures.
Finally, if you somehow manage to survive both of those, you still have a high probability of fatal injury from the movement of the landing gear. Not to mention the obvious risk of falling. Given all the odds working against him, it is truly remarkable that this young boy survived.
