Long Island City-based JetBlue say two stowaways were found dead in the landing gear compartment of on of its flights out of JFK Airport on Monday night after arriving in Florida. QNS/file
Jan. 7, 2025 By Bill Parry
New York’s hometown airline officials made a chilling discovery on board one of its aircraft after a JetBlue flight out of JFK Airport landed in Florida on Monday night.
Two people were found dead in the landing gear compartment of the Airbus A320-232 just after 11 p.m. during a “routine post-flight maintenance inspection” by a JetBlue ground crew at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, according to a spokesperson at their Long Island City corporate headquarters.
Federal investigators are working to determine how the two stowaways were able to make their way onto Flight 1801 undetected at JFK.
“Tragically, both individuals were deceased,” the JetBlue spokesperson said Tuesday. “At this time, the identities of the individuals and the circumstances surrounding how they accessed the aircraft remain under investigation.”
When asked to comment, a Port Authority spokesperson deferred to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
QNS has contacted the FAA and is awaiting a response. An NTSB spokesperson explained why the federal agency is not investigating this incident.
“It appears that the incident involved no flight crew or airplane operation and, therefore, was not under the jurisdiction of the NTSB,” the spokesperson said.
Deputies from the Broward Sheriff’s Office responded to a call regarding two men found in the landing gear area of the aircraft at around 11:30 p.m. On scene, paramedics pronounced both men deceased. BSO’s Homicide and Crime Scene units responded to investigate the circumstances of the incident and the investigation remains ongoing. The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform autopsies to determine the causes of death of both men.
The JetBlue aircraft began the day in Kingston, Jamaica, where the plane overnighted after arriving from JFK Airport on Jan. 5. This led to speculation that the stowaways were from Jamaica.
Jamaican Foreign Minister Kamina Smith took to social media to address the situation Tuesday afternoon.
“We have noted distressing reports in the media regarding the discovery of two deceased persons in the wheel well of an aircraft in Fort Lauderdale,” Smith posted on X. “While there is speculation regarding the nationalities of the persons found, our information to date is that this matter [is] still under investigation by authorities, with the identities of the deceased individuals yet to be officially confirmed.”
Refugees and other desperate people risk journeys as stowaways in aircraft landing gear compartments despite the risks of being crushed by retracting landing gear, falling when the gear deploys for landing, or experiencing severe hypoxia and hypobaria in-flight, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Temperatures inside an inflight aircraft wheel well can drop as low as negative 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
“This is a heartbreaking situation, and we are committed to working closely with authorities to support their efforts to understand how this occurred,” the JetBlue spokesperson said.
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