Two bodies were discovered in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue airliner that arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Monday night. CNN reported that the bodies discovered during a normal post-flight inspection were horribly decomposed.
An anonymous law enforcement official told CNN that the detainees could have been stowed away for many flights. The revelation spurred an investigation into how the individuals gained access to the plane and whether any security failures occurred throughout the voyage.
Decomposed remains were discovered during normal inspection.
JetBlue Flight B61801 took off from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) at 19:49 on Monday, according to FlightAware data. After the jet landed in Fort Lauderdale about 23:10 local time, a ground technician discovered the dead while inspecting the landing gear. The airline confirmed that the people were not JetBlue employees.
“The deceased are both guys. Aside than that, their names are unknown at this time,” Carey Codd, a Broward County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, told CNN.
According to the New York Times, JetBlue stated on Tuesday that an investigation was underway to determine the identities of the two people discovered in Fort Lauderdale and how they obtained access to the aircraft prior to its departure from New York.
“The circumstances surrounding how they accessed the aircraft remain under investigation,” the airline added. “This is a heartbreaking situation, and we are committed to working closely with authorities to support their efforts to understand how this occurred.”
Two individuals are not Jamaicans.
While the inquiry continues, security footage from the different airports visited by the jet will most certainly be scrutinized to monitor the stowaways’ movements.Flightradar24 data shows that the Airbus A320, registered as N644JB, flew twice between New York and Salt Lake City after leaving Kingston, Jamaica, on Monday. The plane flew to Fort Lauderdale after returning from Utah.
The incident has aroused conjecture about the men’s nationality, notably in Jamaica, where the plane just stopped. Kamina Smith, Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, responded to the rumors on the social networking platform X on Thursday with an update.
“Regarding the two deceased stowaways recovered in the wheel well of an aircraft in Fort Lauderdale. “Additional information received indicates that the individuals are not Jamaican,” Smith wrote in a post.
In prior posts, she informed the public that the Jamaican government is in communication with appropriate authorities and will offer updates as additional information becomes available.
Investigations began.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is working with the airline, local law enforcement, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to investigate how the stowaways gained entry to the plane’s wheel well.
However, a representative from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed on Tuesday that the flight crew was not involved in the incident and that the NTSB would not investigate because the case did not involve the plane’s operation.
The event has raised serious concerns about aviation security, emphasizing commercial airliners’ frightening vulnerability to illegal access, particularly in sensitive sections like the landing gear box.
Wheel-well stowaways
The remains were apparently in advanced decomposition, indicating that they had been in the wheel well for some time. Although the cause of their deaths is still being studied, one likely explanation is the extreme circumstances in the wheel well.
At high altitudes, the landing gear compartment undergoes significant pressure swings and freezing temperatures, which can reach -40°F. In addition to these inherent concerns, stowaways face the possibility of being crushed by the retractable landing gear. Surviving under these conditions is challenging.