Body Found In 747 Wheel Well At SFO

POSTED: 10:08 am PDT July 19, 2007
UPDATED: 12:20 pm PDT July 19, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO -- Human remains were discovered by mechanics performing a post-flight inspection early Thursday in the nose wheel well of a United Airlines Boeing 747 that landed at San Francisco International Airport following a flight from China.

Airport spokesman Michael McCarron said the flight -- United Airlines flight 858 -- had flown from Shanghai to San Francisco and landed at 7:42 a.m.

It appeared to be the body of a male, based on clothing, but the gender was not entirely clear, McCarron said. The San Mateo County coroner's office was investigating the incident.

The person had apparently crawled inside the nose gear's housing intentionally, suggesting an attempted stowaway, he said. "It's not an easily accessible place," the spokesman said.

Stowing away in such a manner "has been attempted, but it's never been successful," he said.

"At altitude there's no air to breathe and it's maybe minus-40 degrees for 12 hours," McCarron said. "You can't survive."

Federal aviation officials said people occasionally try to enter the country without authorization by hiding in a plane's underbelly.

"People think they can make it into a country by hiding in a wheel well," said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor. "Almost invariably they get crushed to death, freeze to death, or fall to death."

But there is little U.S. regulators can do to prevent it, he said.

"The security issue is with the origin airport," he said.