Another body in a wheel well.....

[John Gaquin]

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A man was found dead Tuesday night in the wheel well of a
British Airways plane at new York's John F. Kennedy International Airport,
authorities said.

It is the second body found in the wheel well of a plane at the airport in
less than a week......

The body was discovered while the aircraft's first officer was conducting a
routine examination after the plane's arrival from London's Heathrow
Airport. ........

"The plane was in Lagos, Nigeria, on Christmas Eve, and we believe the man
climbed into the wheel well while it was in Nigeria," he said.

**********************************************

If accurate, this craft went from the 24th to the 30th without anyone
inspecting the wheel well closely enough to see a dead body. Reassuring.

JG

[ShawnD2112]

Reassuring when you know what's in the wheel well to be inspected and what's
in a safe and complete walkaround. How often do you take the seats out of
your aircraft and check the inside of the tailcone?

The body was found in a place which is not readily visible from the ground
and only because it had somehow been repositioned as to be partially
visible. There is nothing in that area that requires a routine inspection
on regular service. And, except for a person able to climb in, there's
nothing that would get into that area that could cause a problem.

Unfortunate in the extreme but don't look for someone to blame. Stowaways
happen once in a while...

Shawn
"John Gaquin" > wrote in message
...
> NEW YORK (CNN) -- A man was found dead Tuesday night in the wheel well of
a
> British Airways plane at new York's John F. Kennedy International Airport,
> authorities said.
>
> It is the second body found in the wheel well of a plane at the airport in
> less than a week......
>
> The body was discovered while the aircraft's first officer was conducting
a
> routine examination after the plane's arrival from London's Heathrow
> Airport. ........
>
> "The plane was in Lagos, Nigeria, on Christmas Eve, and we believe the man
> climbed into the wheel well while it was in Nigeria," he said.
>
> **********************************************
>
> If accurate, this craft went from the 24th to the 30th without anyone
> inspecting the wheel well closely enough to see a dead body. Reassuring.
>
> JG
>
>

[Jim Fisher]

"ShawnD2112" > wrote in message

There is nothing in that area that requires a routine inspection
> on regular service.

I reckon that's gonna change soon.

PREFLIGHT CHECLKIST
Emergency Equipment.......................CHECKED
Fire Protection ..................................ON
Interrupt Switches..............................NORMAL
Passenger Oxygen .............................OFF
Dead Body in Wheel Well ..................CHECKED
. . .


--
Jim Fisher

[John Gaquin]

"ShawnD2112" > wrote in message news:G%

> How often do you take the seats out of
> your aircraft and check the inside of the tailcone?

Well, I never owned an airplane to take the seats out of. But in the years
I flew 747s I looked up into a lot of wheel wells.

Regards,

John Gaquin
B727, B747

[Michael 182]

"Jim Fisher" > wrote in message
...
> "ShawnD2112" > wrote in message
>
> There is nothing in that area that requires a routine inspection
> > on regular service.
>
> I reckon that's gonna change soon.
>
> PREFLIGHT CHECLKIST
> Emergency Equipment.......................CHECKED
> Fire Protection ..................................ON
> Interrupt Switches..............................NORMAL
> Passenger Oxygen .............................OFF
> Dead Body in Wheel Well ..................CHECKED

I think they are alive until the climb to altitude, so that should probably
be:

> Soon to be Dead Body in Wheel Well ..................CHECKED

Has anyone ever survived this sort of stowaway?

Michael



> . . .
>
>
> --
> Jim Fisher
>
>

[Al]

I recall a frosty survivor on a flight from South America to New York. I
think they sent him back in a seat.

--
remove underscores to email

"Michael 182" > wrote in message
news:CHCIb.705251$Tr4.1775314@attbi_s03...
> Has anyone ever survived this sort of stowaway?

[John Galban]

"John Gaquin" > wrote in message >...
> NEW YORK (CNN) -- A man was found dead Tuesday night in the wheel well of a
> British Airways plane at new York's John F. Kennedy International Airport,
> authorities said.
>
<snip>

These guys are nuts!. 2 or 3 weeks ago there was a Discovery or
TLC program that highlighted the case of a Cuban defector that hid in
a passenger jet wheelwell. He flew from Cuba to Canada and survived.
The cruise portion of the flight was at 30K ft. or better. The point
of the show was to figure out how the man survived the hours at 30K
ft. They couldn't do it.

Maybe this new wave of wheelwell hoppers also watch cable? While
not very encouraging, the show did illustrate that the feat could be
performed successfully.

John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

[G.R. Patterson III]

Michael 182 wrote:
>
> Has anyone ever survived this sort of stowaway?

I have read of some who survived. Some with brain damage and others with frostbite.

George Patterson
Great discoveries are not announced with "Eureka!". What's usually said is
"Hummmmm... That's interesting...."

[Brian Burger]

On Wed, 31 Dec 2003, John Galban wrote:

> "John Gaquin" > wrote in message >...
> > NEW YORK (CNN) -- A man was found dead Tuesday night in the wheel well of a
> > British Airways plane at new York's John F. Kennedy International Airport,
> > authorities said.
> >
> <snip>
>
> These guys are nuts!. 2 or 3 weeks ago there was a Discovery or
> TLC program that highlighted the case of a Cuban defector that hid in
> a passenger jet wheelwell. He flew from Cuba to Canada and survived.
> The cruise portion of the flight was at 30K ft. or better. The point
> of the show was to figure out how the man survived the hours at 30K
> ft. They couldn't do it.

I dimly recall something about there being heaters & an oxygen feed into
the wheelwell itself, to keep the hydraulics & such from freezing up at
altitude, and this stowaway curled himself around the heater and got a
trickle of air from the feed.

Google News might be able to tell you more...

Brian

[pacplyer]

"John Gaquin" > wrote in message >...
> "ShawnD2112" > wrote in message news:G%
>
> > How often do you take the seats out of
> > your aircraft and check the inside of the tailcone?
>
> Well, I never owned an airplane to take the seats out of. But in the years
> I flew 747s I looked up into a lot of wheel wells.
>
> Regards,
>
> John Gaquin
> B727, B747

Preflighting wheelwells is a job the second officer accomplishes. The
second officer is a non-flying crewmember. I think John wants people
to believe that he flew these 747's, but I submit this year he should
resolve to be honest and admit that he never held a flying seat on the
747. I'm pointing this out because John's previous posts made it
clear he is not very familliar with taxi procedures of 747 100's or
200's. In his prior posts he claimed to shut-down two inboard engines
at taxi out at 800,000 pounds, which is improper and is a very dubious
claim since this could likely stall him in any ninety degree turn at
that weight. Not even climb thrust on the outboards will get you out
of this once the 747 gets stuck in the turn. You have just screwed up
departure for all the flights behind you, as now you must go through a
five minute start checklist and spoolup for the remaining engines.
Not to mention the extreme infield errosion that this stunt would
cause. Now I know your proud of being on the airplane John, just as I
was. Am I wrong? Were you a F/O or Capt?

pacplyer

DA20, Bae-146, B-747, B727, A310, DC10

[Ash Wyllie]

John Galban opined

>"John Gaquin" > wrote in message
>...
>> NEW YORK (CNN) -- A man was found dead Tuesday night in the wheel well of a
>> British Airways plane at new York's John F. Kennedy International Airport,
>> authorities said.
>>
><snip>

> These guys are nuts!. 2 or 3 weeks ago there was a Discovery or
>TLC program that highlighted the case of a Cuban defector that hid in
>a passenger jet wheelwell. He flew from Cuba to Canada and survived.
>The cruise portion of the flight was at 30K ft. or better. The point
>of the show was to figure out how the man survived the hours at 30K
>ft. They couldn't do it.

You can survive 30kft without oxygen, people have climbed Everest without O2
after all. Mind you they were all brain damaged afterwards. It's the
temperature that might be more of a problem.

> Maybe this new wave of wheelwell hoppers also watch cable? While
>not very encouraging, the show did illustrate that the feat could be
>performed successfully.

>John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)


-ash
for assistance dial MYCROFTXXX

[Michael 182]

For my 50th birthday we climbed Mt. Evans in Colorado - 14,264 feet. I felt,
to put it mildly, miserable. Makes me wonder if those guys climbing Everest
were brain damaged before the climb. On the other hand, spending your
birthday doing something that makes you miserable doesn't show too much
intelligence either...

Michael



"Ash Wyllie" > wrote in message
...
>

> You can survive 30kft without oxygen, people have climbed Everest without
O2
> after all. Mind you they were all brain damaged afterwards. It's the
> temperature that might be more of a problem.
>
> -ash
> for assistance dial MYCROFTXXX
>

[John Galban]

"Ash Wyllie" > wrote in message >...
> The point
> >of the show was to figure out how the man survived the hours at 30K
> >ft. They couldn't do it.
>
> You can survive 30kft without oxygen, people have climbed Everest without O2
> after all. Mind you they were all brain damaged afterwards. It's the
> temperature that might be more of a problem.

Oops. Just did a Google search and it turns out it was 35K ft. You
can survive 30K ft. without oxygen if you have spent weeks acclimating
yourself at high levels. The person I'm talking about was a Cuban
airplane mechanic. Four hours at 35K ft is pretty impressive. What
got me was the temp. Somewhere around -50F and the man had only a
light windbreaker. In Montreal, he was able to climb out of the wheel
well by himself.

Links :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2560213.stm
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/printarticle/gam/20021210/UCUBAN

John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

[Dave Stadt]

"John Galban" > wrote in message
om...
> "Ash Wyllie" > wrote in message
>...
> > The point
> > >of the show was to figure out how the man survived the hours at 30K
> > >ft. They couldn't do it.
> >
> > You can survive 30kft without oxygen, people have climbed Everest
without O2
> > after all. Mind you they were all brain damaged afterwards. It's the
> > temperature that might be more of a problem.
>
> Oops. Just did a Google search and it turns out it was 35K ft. You
> can survive 30K ft. without oxygen if you have spent weeks acclimating
> yourself at high levels. The person I'm talking about was a Cuban
> airplane mechanic. Four hours at 35K ft is pretty impressive. What
> got me was the temp. Somewhere around -50F and the man had only a
> light windbreaker. In Montreal, he was able to climb out of the wheel
> well by himself.
>
> Links :
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2560213.stm
>
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/printarticle/gam/20021210/UC
UBAN
>
> John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

Cuban cigars work wonders I tell ya.