MIGRATING TO DEATH

Japanese authorities have found the body of a man in the landing gear of an airliner that arrived in Tokyo from New York. Skip related content
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Man's Body Found In Landing Gear Of US Flight
Enlarge photo .The man, who was of dark complexion and dressed only in blue jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, was carrying no passport or personal belongings.

A mechanic found the body in the landing gear bay of the Delta Airlines Boeing 777, after Flight 59 landed at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, a Chiba prefecture police spokesman said.

After the passengers disembarked, the aircraft was towed to a freight area. The maintenance worker found the man inside the door of the landing gear storage compartment.

Airport police said there were no external injuries on the man's body, but there were traces of frostbite believed to have occurred while the plane was airborne.

"Doctors say he probably froze to death and that he suffered a shortage of oxygen at an altitude of more than 30,000 feet," said Narita Airport police spokesman Yoshimi Ichihara.

"We found no passport, no bag and no personal belongings. If he carried any luggage, it must have all dropped out when the airplane opened the landing gear bay above the ocean before it landed."

There is enough space for a person to hide in the main landing gear housing compartment, but the area is not pressurised with the cabin of the aircraft.

Consequently there have been several cases in which stowaways have hidden in the housing compartment, but died due to a shortage of oxygen and the freezing temperatures.

Japanese authorities are seeking help from US police to identify the man.