MIAMI – The discovery of two dead stowaways in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue Airways plane Monday night in Fort Lauderdale has reignited concerns about aviation security and the grim risks of such attempts.
The bodies of two men were found during a routine inspection after JetBlue Flight 1801 landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The airline said the circumstances of how the individuals accessed the aircraft are under investigation.
The identities of the stowaways remain unknown, though Jamaican authorities have noted reports speculating that the individuals were Jamaican nationals, but no confirmation has been made.
A deadly history of stowaways
Instances of stowaways hiding in aircraft wheel wells have been documented for decades.
In an interview with CNN, Mary Schiavo, former inspector general of the Department of Transportation, revealed that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has tracked 128 cases worldwide from 1947 to 2020. Over 75% of those attempts ended in death due to the extreme dangers of the wheel well, including hypothermia, oxygen deprivation, and the risk of being crushed by landing gear mechanisms.