Teen survives in wheel well of Maui flight

[aentwis 61]

user removed

[Sam 68]

Yep, the Israeli's have mastered the art and science of airport security.  Even before 9/11, I read much about the thoroughness and careful planning they put into securing their airports, and I thought to myself that they took the subject too seriously.   Boy was I wrong once September 2011 arrived. 

 

Good point on the vulnerability of airports to easy access though chain link fences.  It's just too easy for someone to sneak past them, especially under the dark of night.  About 2 years or so ago at my hometown airport KPHL, a deranged man just burst his way through the fence in his car and drove onto the active runway, leading to a police chase and major disruption to airport operations. 

 

The only solution I could think of would be to install multiple fences with barbed wire, piled on nice and high, all though the perimeter of the airfield.   Unfortunately, I suppose airport authorities would balk at the cost, and it would be difficult to justify the expense in light of the few times these incursions have occurred in the past.   It's akin to fitting a fail safe, GPS linked transmitter to the blackbox of commercial airliners, in reference to another little recent incident that the industry is forced to react to, after the fact. 

 

Or dig a trench, and fill it with crocs'n'stuff

[HiFlyer 9,376]

Or dig a trench, and fill it with crocs'n'stuff

 

How would a trench filled with shoes help?  :ph34r:

[FLEX1978 373]

The reason I say charge him, is it wasn't just his life he was risking, but the lives of everyone on board. If he damaged some of those hydraulic lines, the landing gear may have failed, forcing a wheels up landing, Then it's anybodies guess what would have happened. Stunts like this has to be deterred in any way possible. The stakes are just too high not to.

 

If one soft obstacle in the gear bay was enough to disable all hydraulics or disable the gear I would never fly again!

 

There's are reason triple hyd redundancy exists on airliners, and gravity extension.

 

From what I read he had a fight with his parents.  I'd bet money he wanted to fly to Hawaii to meet a girl or something, parents said no & he decided to find a way to get there with no cash...   At least he didn't try and swim!

 

It's a grim fact but the human body will get turned to mince meat by a landing gear if they are not in the right place in the gear bay on retraction. 

[HiFlyer 9,376]

Cnn: Showing us (and any potential terrorists i guess) how its done.

 

The reporter nailed it on the head: there's nothing stupider a person could do than this. Which raises the question, how did the boy know to do this? Or is he simply flexible as an eel? I know if I tried this with no prior knowledge I would be squished like a bug.

 

Oh, and on a five hour trip, you should probably use the facilities first.......  :wacko:

 

And if you're unconscious, not falling out when the wheels are lowered looks like a pure act from God. 

 

[n4gix 4,961]

Well, that answered my question! There's even a very uncomfortable tubular cross-brace on which to park your fanny.

[James Bennett 52]

Cnn: Showing us (and any potential terrorists i guess) how its done.

 

 

That looks genuinely terrifying. First of all clinging onto that during takeoff would be probably the scariest thing the youth has ever done, followed by watching several tonnes of metal and tyre move towards you under thousands of psi of hydraulic pressure. You'd then slowly freeze until you blacked out, whilst battling hypoxia whichever you felt first. Then at some point you'd be awoken in a semi dead state whilst a void opens beside you 2000ft above the ground and at a ground speed of 200 or so mph.

 

Begs the question what was he running away from.

Edited April 22, 2014 by n4gix
Please, do NOT quote the entire post you are replying to.

[HiFlyer 9,376]

 

 

Begs the question what was he running away from.

 

Probably nothing more terrifying than what he ran too!

 

The wind whipping through there was probably not pleasant, either. All in all, the whole thing just has to be in the top ten of things not to try without a diaper.

[James Bennett 52]

Probably nothing more terrifying than what he ran too!

 

The wind whipping through there was probably not pleasant, either. All in all, the whole thing just has to be in the top ten of things not to try without a diaper.

 

Read this in another analysis: In 2000, a man survived a seven-hour flight from French Polynesia to Los Angeles, "spattered with oil from the landing gear and with his clothes ripped to shreds". 

 

Wonder what ripped his clothes :s

[HiFlyer 9,376]

Read this in another analysis: In 2000, a man survived a seven-hour flight from French Polynesia to Los Angeles, "spattered with oil from the landing gear and with his clothes ripped to shreds". 

 

Wonder what ripped his clothes :s

 

I wouldn't charge him either. He's still a minor for one, and that ride just by itself is more punishment than the system could ever give him. Just the fact that he went and did something like that indicates some serious issues that are probably better handled by CPS.

[fluffyflops 1,865]

we had it a few times at Virgin where deportee's being sent back to Nigeria from the Uk would come on the aircraft shouting and screaming begging not to be deported. Normally before the normal pax boarded.

 

They would be escorted by the police and the home office staff, who would show them to the seat, paper work into the flight deck and leave. On a few occasions the deportee would stand up and either crap or pee on the seat // floor  in order to get rearrested and have some more time in a UK prison courtesy of the tax paper...

[HighTowers 1,439]

I request the wheel well all the time cause I cant afford the seats. So I bring an extra sweater, curl myself into a ball than knock myself out.  So thats where all my brain damage comes from.

[mebull 27]

Thanks to the less than responsible media and the old saying about, "if you have no news to report, go and create some". I truly believe the news media on the whole maximizes the coverage of many things simply to provoke the behavior of the copy cat types - more copy cats equal mores stories to run equals more stories to run and that translates to more revenue with no regard for the people that get hurt. The media has become nothing better than a parasite.

 

If the young man is fortunate enough to suffer no lasting physical or mental damage his punishment should be that he has to speak to his peers about what a really, really bad, stupid idea it is to do what he did. If he suffers any permanent  mental or physical damage that is surely punishment enough.

 

A kid thinks "I can do this, with no thought of getting hurt or killed", When confronted by a adult concerning the overwhelming danger the kid responds "I knew I could do it" and the adult responds, "No! You just did not know that maybe you couldn't". If the kid does survive in more or less one piece then that behavior may continues into adulthood. I remember being told many times that just because you can doesn't mean you should and that was often while I was being treated for contusions, abrasions, lacerations and fractures. At my age I have set the limit at minor scratches only!

 

On a lighter note:

 

There was a airline that recently announced their intention to make passengers pay for cabin pressure and oxygen. I wonder how they are viewing this incident? The new question at the ticket counter will be wheel well or economy. What is the difference you ask? Well not much, since in economy we have removed the windows to cut weight and if you don't want the wind noise you will have to pay extra for a window plug. Also since the seats are now none flammable pieces of inch and a half pipe that helps save costs you will need to purchase our five foot of polyester rope option to secure yourself to the pipe. We have also done away with the lavatory since there are so many open window areas. Don't tell anyone you heard this from me, but, the wheel well option is becoming quite popular. It is less noisy and the view during take off and landing is absolutely spectacular! I do however still recommend the five foot of polyester rope option to secure yourself to the pipe. We do care about our passengers you know, we always put them first!

 

Next step - the wing - if you want wings it'll cost you extra.

 

Regards,

Mel

[Captain_Barfbag 31]

 

 

There was a airline that recently announced their intention to make passengers pay for cabin pressure and oxygen.

 

No, that was only for the emergency oxygen.  If you were OK with being hungry and thirsty, and not using the lavatories, you could keep your wallet in your pocket for the whole flight.  But if the masks dropped down, be prepared to swipe and enter the 3-digit security code on the back of your card.

[fppilot 4,409]

Cnn: Showing us (and any potential terrorists i guess) how its done.

 

I'm still having some trouble believing all of this.  Not that he was a stowaway.  But where he stowed himself.  Looking at that CNN video, and  understanding it was created after the occurrence, I have to ask how the lad would know where he could or could not stow himself in a wheel well and survive even the operation of the gear up.  Perhaps he was just lucky.  But given the OAT at FL380, lack of pressure and oxygen, how he could survive.  Over in the  Malaysian Air 370 topic there were some posts pointing out what would occur in a cabin at an altitude such as that - in the case of depressurization, temp, and lack of oxygen.  They all illustrated within a range of minutes.....

 

If the lad was able to hop a fence and get into a wheel well without detection, he could certainly have gotten into the cargo bay as well.  No one seems to have seen him enter any part of the airplane, or crawl out of any part of the airplane.  Only that he was found wandering around on the tarmac at Maui.  Anyway it cuts it is a significant security breech.  So.......