Is it possible to survive in the wheel well of a plane

Of the cases identified by the US Federal Aviation Administration, 23 people - about one in four - had survived the journey. There are serious risks associated with the extreme conditions people face if they try to travel in the undercarriage of a plane. These include being crushed when landing gear retracts, frostbite, hearing loss, tinnitus and acidosis - the build-up of acid in body fluids which can cause coma or death.

During the flight, temperatures can drop to as low as C F , bringing on hypothermia. At 18,ft 5,m , hypoxia sets in, where the whole or part of the body is deprived of an adequate oxygen supply.

It causes weakness, tremors, light-headedness and eyesight problems. Above a typical long-haul cruising altitude of 33,ft 10,m - or higher - lungs require artificial pressure to function normally.

When a plane reaches 22,ft 6,m , a stowaway will be struggling to keep conscious as blood oxygen level drops. Then compartment doors re-open a few thousand feet above ground for landing, which can cause stowaways to fall to their deaths.

Airside control areas in some parts of the world do not have the same level of security as they do in the UK. Stowaways can get on board if the proper checks are not carried out.

In the case of the man who died in August , after stowing away on a flight from Cape Town to London, the warning came too late. The crew onboard were told during their journey that a security fence had been breached in Cape Town and that someone had been seen climbing into the undercarriage. Most tend to be men who are attempting to make their way to Europe or North America, from developing countries. It has been suggested that some stowaways are trying to escape persecution in their home country, or are fleeing conflict situations.

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There have been occasional previous recorded cases of people making it alive, on shorter flights at lower altitudes.

A year-old Romanian man made it to Heathrow from Vienna in , concealed in the undercarriage of a private jet that flew comparatively low, in air still thick enough for lungs to function.

If they can withstand the flight, the stowaways need to cling on and remain conscious when the wheels come down on the approach to the airport. One of the two men on the BA flight appears to have been beyond the point of endurance by the time the plane was on its descent over Richmond, his body falling on to shops below. US Federal Aviation Authority records suggest that, at best, one in four stowaways survives.