Police say airplane maintenance workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport discovered the body of a suspected stowaway hidden in the landing gear compartment of an American Airlines jet that had just arrived from Europe.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said the body was found Sunday morning while the aircraft was undergoing maintenance, according to The Associated Press.
Authorities confirmed they are investigating the death but have not released details about the victim’s identity, the cause of death, or the exact origin of the flight.
The airport called the discovery deeply tragic. In a statement, officials said the facility was “deeply saddened” and pledged support for the police investigation.
American Airlines said it is cooperating with law enforcement and referred additional questions to police.
Aviation experts note that the odds of surviving as a stowaway are slim. Roughly three-quarters of people who attempt it die due to extreme cold and lack of oxygen inside a plane’s wheel well during flight.
Similar incidents have occurred in recent months. In January, two bodies were discovered inside the landing gear of a JetBlue plane at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after a routine post-flight inspection. That aircraft had recently been in Kingston, Jamaica, and Salt Lake City, Utah, before arriving in Florida from New York’s JFK Airport.
Just weeks earlier, in December, another body was found in the wheel well of a United Airlines flight after it landed in Maui from Chicago.
