Two bodies were discovered in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue flight on Monday after a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the airline said in a statement Tuesday.
JetBlue Flight 1801 departed from New York's Kennedy Airport on Monday at 7:49 p.m. and landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport at 11:10 p.m., according to flight tracking data. The airline said the body was discovered during a routine post-flight inspection of the plane.
Paramedics pronounced two people dead at the scene, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office. It's unclear how long people were in the landing gear bay.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages Kennedy Airport, did not respond to requests for comment on how the individuals may have gained access to the aircraft.
Landing gear compartments are located under the wings of airplanes and at the front of the plane and have long been used by people trying to move unnoticed on airplanes. The airline did not say whether the two people found dead on Monday were stowaways.
Such attempts to hide in the landing gear compartment have proven fatal in the past. This compartment opens and closes during takeoff and landing to deploy and retract wheels and other landing components, preventing other stowaways from falling through the opening and landing in public spaces along the flight path. There was also.
Those who are able to remain in the compartment risk being crushed by the landing gear as it is pulled back into the aircraft, as well as other hazards such as intense temperatures, changes in air pressure, and lack of oxygen. Many stowaways die from hypothermia.
Just recently, on Christmas Day, a body was found in the cockpit of a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Hawaii. In 2023, a man was found alive in the landing gear compartment after a commercial flight from Algeria to France, but suffering from severe hypothermia.
JetBlue Airways said an investigation was underway Tuesday to determine the identities of the two men found in Fort Lauderdale and how they may have gained access to the plane before departing from New York. .
“This is a heartbreaking situation and we are committed to working closely with the authorities and supporting their efforts to understand how this happened,” the airline said in a statement.
