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An incredible story of survival. The FBI is investigating, after a 16-year old boy claims he made it from the Californian coast to Hawaii in the wheel well of a 767 passenger jet. The story has some experts baffled, because they say the chance of surviving a journey like that is extremely low, to impossible. There are so many factors that should make a journey like this impossible, but accounts from airline staff suggest it really did happen.
Ground staff at the Kahului Airport in Maui say they saw the 16-year old jumping out of the wheel well around 11:30 Sunday morning — about an hour after the plane landed. He was disoriented and said he was unconscious for the majority of the flight. He claims he was running away from home in San Jose when he stowed away in the wheel well, not knowing where the plane was going. To get there, he had to jump a fence at the airport. Officials there are fielding questions about how the boy could have snuck into the plane unnoticed.
Rosemary Barnes is with the Mineta San Jose International Airport: “First of all, we’re very thankful the teenager survived his journey. First and foremost, our concern is with him and his family and he’s a very lucky boy today.”
The trip from San Jose to Maui took five hours and the plane reached a peak altitude of 38 thousand feet. At that height, temperatures can drop to minus 60 degrees celsius. Experts say it’s nearly impossible someone could survive the cold and lack of oxygen. But the teen claims he did.
This isn’t the first survival story like this. A report by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on 11 wheel well stowaways says 5 survived. Some were able to adjust to low oxygen levels during a gradual ascent.
This most recent stunt is being investigated by the FBI to verify whether it’s true. The teen was handed over to child protective services. He hasn’t been charged.
