Falling Men

Father Ted

Father Ted

Father Ted

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How often do plane stowaways fall from the sky?

Police are investigating whether a man found dead on a west London street was a stowaway who fell from a plane. Just how often does this happen?

No-one saw the body fall from the sky on to Portman Avenue.

A few neighbours thought they heard something, a thud or a loud bang. But not a soul was around to witness a man hit the pavement of this quiet residential street in Mortlake, south-west London, early on a bright September Sunday.

Police say the death is being treated as unexplained. But early media reports all shared the same assumption - that he had stowed away in the landing gear of a plane flying to Heathrow, less than 10 miles away.

"He must have come down pretty much vertically to miss the parked cars," says John Taylor, 79, who heard a thump from his home across the street in this placid, affluent suburb. "I expect he was dead already. Poor chap must have been desperate."
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Full Story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19562101

I find it almost impossible to imagine the sheer desperation that would drive somebody to attempt this, very sad.
 
I think it's more along the lines of not knowing the risks. I think if he had known that his actions would likely result in death he wouldn't have done it. Obviously there is a degree of desperation involved of course :S
 
this was in the paper the other day and even commented on in frankie boyles sun column (don't flame, i purchased it to read up on the hillsborough story) where he made a joke about ryanair.

and yes, you would either freeze to death or get crushed by the landing gear. happens a few times a year apparently.
 
From Wiki:

The stowaways in plane wells are facing numerous health risks, many of which are fatal: being mangled when undercarriage retract, tinnitus, hearing loss, hypothermia, hypoxia, frostbite, acidosis and finally falling when the doors of the compartment reopen.

The landing gear compartment is not equipped with heating, pressure or oxygen, which are vital for survival at a high altitude. According to experts, at 18,000 feet (5,500 m), hypoxia is causing light-headedness, weakness, vision impairment and tremors. By 22,000 feet (6,700 m) the oxygen level of the blood drops and the person struggle to stay conscious. Above 33,000 feet (10,000 m) their lungs would need artificial pressure to operate normally. The temperature could drop as low as −63 °C (−81 °F) which causes severe hypothermia. Those stowaways who managed not to be crushed by the retracting undercarriage or killed by the deadly conditions would quite probably be not conscious when the compartment door re-opens during the approach and fall down several thousand feet to their deaths.

David Learmount, an aviation expert of Flight International, told BBC about a lot of ignorance in this area. He suggested that no one would be willing to risk such journey, having full understanding of this kind of ordeal. Those stoaways who survived, usually travelled relatively short distances or at the low altitude.

One case is known of a person who survived the altitude of about 39,000 feet (12,000 m). The youngest known survivor was aged nine. Almost all of the stowaways were male. Almost all of the stowaways on planes were the illegal immigrants from the less-developed country who tried to get to North America or Europe. A few cases are known of the individuals who did it out of a erroneous sense of adventure or as a prank.

From 1947 until September 2012, there were 96 known stowaway attempts worldwide in wheel wells of 85 separate flights, which resulted in 73 deaths with only 23 survivors.
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Doesn't sound like fun. :eek:
 
I think it's disgraceful that there are no health and safety measures in place for these poor people. All landing gear wells should have emergency oxygen tanks and electric heaters to ensure they don't die.

:p

Wasn't there a case of a couple found dead in a dumpster and following a large investigation it transpired that they fell from the sky?
 
I always wonder how they manage this. There are loads of people messing around the plane when it's on the ground, and it's not like you can just stroll onto a runway either. I assume they get on in countries where there isn't any security and employees who either don't give a monkeys or are happy to take a bribe. At Heathrow you would probably be gunned down before you even got near the plane!

Anyway, it would probably still be more comfortable and luxurious than the Air India flight I took a few years ago :o
 
Antar Bolaeisk said:
I think it's disgraceful that there are no health and safety measures in place for these poor people. All landing gear wells should have emergency oxygen tanks and electric heaters to ensure they don't die.

:p
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There should also be a machine dispensing drinks and food. They could call it Hold Class. :p
 
clung on to the passenger plane
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Saw that on tv but they arent clinging onto anything I think, they must be in a coma. To survive when its above the height of Everest, almost no oxygen with no special clothing on I think is almost impossible except the body kicks into minimal survival mode and somehow they might make it out alive.

I did read of one guy who fell into a snow drift below the summit of Everest in a blizzard, the jet stream had descended on the mountain. He had no oxygen and he lay there 'asleep' for a few hours. Then woke up still in a blizzard, staggered back down the mountain in the dark alone and lived (with losses to frost bite) but the ability of understanding of how thats possible is unknown afaik
 
Just be thankful that one of these delightful people wasn't carrying a bomb in order to please Allah. Hell even a hand grenade would most likely do the job, and those things are ten a penny in Africa.
 
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Imagine getting all the way to UK after a long flight in 3rd class and then the wheels lower and you simply slip and fall out, your last view being Heathrow at terminal one velocity....
 
Malevolence said:
Just be thankful that one of these delightful people wasn't carrying a bomb in order to please Allah. Hell even a hand grenade would most likely do the job, and those things are ten a penny in Africa.
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This story highlights the lengths that desperate people in developing countries will go to to try and get a better life for themselves and your first reaction is to highlight the possibility of them being terrorists? :confused:
 
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