It's raining men ... at least parts of them

[rafini]

Man's Leg, Torso Fall Out of Plane in N.Y.

By PAT MILTON
FLORAL PARK, N.Y. (AP) - The body of an apparent stowaway was ripped in half during flight Tuesday and his leg crashed into a suburban neighborhood, where a homeowner found the severed limb in the middle of her lawn, authorities said.

Pam Hearne heard ``a loud crash'' and later was stunned to see a foot clad in an Adidas sneaker and a sock in her yard, said Officer Thomas Blanchard. The leg, with hip and spine attached, dented the shingled roof of her garage before bouncing into the lawn.

Police suspect the remains are from a stowaway who may have been crushed as the South African Airways jet lowered its landing gear on its approach to Kennedy Airport.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said the pilot of flight 203 would have probably started lowering the plane's landing gear in the sky over the home in Floral Park, about 5 miles from the airport.

Peters said a Customs agent that met the flight at the airport found another leg hanging from the wheel well.

The airline said in a statement that the flight landed with ``no impact'' on the passengers and crew and it was working closely with authorities to investigate how someone may have stowed away.

The flight originated in Johannesburg, and made one stop in Senegal. Authorities had not identified the remains, which were hauled away from Hearne's yard in a plastic bag.

Hearne, a special education teacher, said that when she first saw the leg in the grass, ``it didn't look real.''

``But I am very glad that I live where I do,'' she said, ``so I don't have to run for my life like this man probably was doing.''

There have been cases of stowaways being crushed by the mechanism in aircraft wheel wells and perishing from the extreme cold at high altitude.

[rkmsuf]

A stowaway? How is that even possible?

[Qwikshot]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

A stowaway? How is that even possible?

Is that sarcasm...?

I mean I've read stories of stowaways hiding in wheel bins for years, some survive, some don't.

[rkmsuf]

seriously never heard that.

[Qwikshot]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

seriously never heard that.

It's crazy what some people will do to get out of their country...I know I've read of someone surviving a transatlantic flight doing such...

they forget that it's not insulated, die from exposure, or are crushed, or suffocate due to lack of oxygen...if they do black out and the landing gear comes down, they fall.

It's an insane gamble. This guy just lost.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

It's crazy what some people will do to get out of their country...I know I've read of someone surviving a transatlantic flight doing such...

they forget that it's not insulated, die from exposure, or are crushed, or suffocate due to lack of oxygen...if they do black out and the landing gear comes down, they fall.

It's an insane gamble. This guy just lost.

he kind of won. he's no longer in his country.

[Qwikshot]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

he kind of won. he's no longer in his country.

Touche

[Radii]

The leg, with hip and spine attached, dented the shingled roof of her garage before bouncing into the lawn.

That almsot sounds like something out of a cartoon... and way up high on the list of things I wouldn't want to find when I walked out into my back yard.

[flere-imsaho]

Do Jet Stowaways Ever Survive?
The dangers of traveling beneath business class.
By Brendan I. Koerner
Updated Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003, at 11:07 AM PT



For the second time in a week, police at New York's Kennedy Airport have discovered a body in the wheel well of an arriving jet. What are the hazards of traveling in an airplane's wheel well, and do any of these desperate stowaways ever survive?

The odds of survival, always slim at best, decrease in proportion to the duration and altitude of the flight. Few stowaways are equipped to handle the frigid temperatures, which can dip below minus-50 degrees Fahrenheit on some flights. The bodies of stowaways usually show signs of severe frostbite and the longer the flight, the more likely that the illicit passenger will succumb to the elements.

Others perish due to asphyxiation, as the air at high altitudes lacks sufficient oxygen and the wheel wells are unpressurized. Think of how mountaineers scaling Mount Everest are forced to carry oxygen tanks, and that peak measures shy of 30,000 feet—just below the altitude that many planes reach. The chilliness and the oxygen deprivation become more severe the higher a plane climbs, so stowaways on high-flying transoceanic voyages face the worst odds.

A third danger is the likelihood of tumbling from the wheel well prior to arrival. Landing gear is typically deployed at an altitude of around 1,500 feet, and the stowaways are given little warning. Unless they're holding onto something inside the compartment, a fatal plunge is difficult to avoid. Blackouts caused by oxygen deprivation are common, so many stowaways are likely unconscious at the crucial moment.

Few hopeful refugees attempt wheel-well arrivals every year. In 2000, for example, the FAA counted 13 such stowaways, three of whom survived. In 2001, six tried to enter the United States in such a fashion, with no survivors. In 2002, five perished and one survived. (The wheel-well survival rate since 1947 is 20.3 percent.) The death estimates may be low, as some bodies may have tumbled out into water or remote areas, never to be recovered.

There is, however, the occasional miracle case, none more fantastic than the tale of Fidel Maruhi. The Tahitian native lived through a 7-and-a-half-hour flight from Papeete to Los Angeles. When he was discovered, Maruhi's body temperature was just 79 degrees, about 6 degrees colder than what's usually considered fatal. Repatriated to Tahiti after his feat, Maruhi later said that he remembers nothing of the trip, having blacked out just after takeoff.

Last December, a Cuban refugee named Victor Alvarez Molina made it to Montreal in the wheel well of a DC-10, enduring four hours in temperatures that dropped to minus-40 F. His saving grace was a leak in a compartment pipe, which seeped out warm air. The pipe also provided him a convenient lifeline to hold onto when the landing gear deployed. Unlike Maruhi, Molina was granted refugee status and now hopes to bring his family to Canada. Presumably in more comfortable circumstances.

[Fonzie]

Hallelujiah!

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Amazing what people will do to live in the land of the free.

[Yossarian]

Repatriated to Tahiti after his feat,

That sucks!

I'd let him stay on sheer effort alone.

[oliegirl]

Pix pls, thanks

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

he kind of won. he's no longer in his country.

most of him, anyway

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Next thing you know the ACLU will request survival gear and mint on the planes wheel wells.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Dola: Just out of morbid curiosity what does a body look like after taking a 1500 - 35000 foot plunge. I would Imagine w/o a chute the body would explode mid air.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by CHEMICAL SOLDIER

Dola: Just out of morbid curiosity what does a body look like after taking a 1500 - 35000 foot plunge. I would Imagine w/o a chute the body would explode mid air.

The same as it did before, at least until it hits the ground. Think skydiver.