2 bodies found in the wheel well of a JetBlue plane in Fort Lauderdale, airline says
There have been other recent stowaway incidents that raised serious alarm over airport security during the busy holiday travel period.
(Photo credit: Getty Images)
(CNN) — Two people were found dead in the wheel well of a JetBlue plane from New York City after it landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, the airline said Tuesday.
The bodies were discovered Monday night during a post-flight maintenance inspection. Their identities are unknown, the airline said, and “the circumstances surrounding how they accessed the aircraft remain under investigation.”
JetBlue said the plane had most recently operated as Flight 1801 from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The flight landed in Fort Lauderdale at 11:10 pm, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office – which has jurisdiction over the airport – and medical examiners were on the scene at JetBlue’s terminal, CNN affiliate WFOR reported.
The investigation is not impacting operations at the airport, Broward County Aviation Department spokesperson Arlene Satchell told CNN.
The discovery comes two weeks after a body was found in the wheel bay of a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Maui.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the landing gear compartment is often used by stowaways, who don’t realize how little space is available in the bay when the gear is retracted. Stowaways who aren’t crushed often end up losing consciousness for lack of oxygen or freezing once the plane is at cruising altitude.
There have been other recent stowaway incidents that raised serious alarm over airport security during the busy holiday travel period.
A woman boarded a Delta plane Thanksgiving week, authorities said, and made it from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport to Paris before she was eventually arrested.
Weeks later, a stowaway tried to hide on a Delta flight departing from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The unticketed passenger was discovered while the plane was taxiing for takeoff to Honolulu.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN’s Sara Smart contributed to this report.
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