A body was found in the wheel well of a United Airlines plane after it landed at an airport in US Hawaii, the company and local news outlets said. "Upon arrival at Kahului airport in Maui on Tuesday, a body was found in the wheel well of one of the main landing gears on a United aircraft," the company said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that it is working with law enforcement authorities on the investigation.
The company said it is still not clear how or when the person accessed the wheel well, noting that the wheel well was only accessible from outside of the plane, Xinhua news agency reported.
The body was reportedly found on a Boeing (NYSE:BA) 787-10 aircraft that took off from Chicago's O'Hare airport. It was in one of the compartments that houses the airplane's landing gear when United Flight 202 from Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
The Maui Police Department is currently conducting an active investigation regarding the deceased individual discovered, reported local news outlet Hawaii News Now.
Officials stated the operations at the airport were routine and did not have anything to do with the incident, said the report.
Low oxygen levels in the storage wheel compartments and extreme temperatures since most commercial aircrafts climb to a cruise altitude are two things that make survival inside the wheel wells or in any part of these jets extremely rare, the FAA previously stated. It wasn't immediately available for comments on request.
The police did not say on Tuesday that the person who was found dead on Maui was a stowaway. Others have died over the years after being in the landing gear compartment.
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