Law enforcement officials say that two bodies were found overnight in an aircraft compartment on a JetBlue Airways plane at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Department and a medical examiner have been investigating the discovery on the plane which most recently operated as Flight 1801 from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
JetBlue issued a statement, noting that the bodies were found in the plane’s landing gear compartment on Monday night. The bodies were located during a routine inspection after the plane had landed.
“Tragically, both individuals were deceased. At this time, the identities of the individuals and the circumstances surrounding how they accessed the aircraft remain under investigation,” the company said in a statement early Tuesday. “This is a heartbreaking situation, and we are committed to working closely with authorities to support their efforts to understand how this occurred.”
Broward Sheriff crime and homicide detectives are investigating how the two people ended up in the plane’s wheel compartment while the Broward Medical Examiner’s Office is set to perform autopsies to uncover a cause of death.