{"id":114930,"date":"2025-09-29T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/?p=114930"},"modified":"2025-09-29T18:26:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T12:56:12","slug":"american-airlines-found-dead-stowaway-at-charlotte-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/29\/american-airlines-found-dead-stowaway-at-charlotte-airport\/","title":{"rendered":"American Airlines Found Dead Stowaway in the Landing Gear at Charlotte Airport"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>CHARLOTTE\u2014<\/strong> A body was discovered inside the landing gear of an <a href=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/tag\/american-airlines\/\">American Airlines (AA)<\/a> aircraft at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) on Sunday morning. The aircraft had just returned from Europe, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities confirmed that officers were called to a maintenance hangar shortly after 9 am on September 28. Engineers conducting routine checks on the American Airlines plane found the body, prompting an immediate investigation by CMPD\u2019s Homicide Unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/83dypct8-1024x576.webp\" alt=\"American Airlines Found Dead Stowaway in the Landing Gear at Charlotte Airport\" class=\"wp-image-65015\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/83dypct8-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/83dypct8-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/83dypct8-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/83dypct8-150x84.webp 150w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/83dypct8-450x253.webp 450w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/83dypct8-1200x675.webp 1200w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/83dypct8.webp 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo: Cado Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-american-airlines-dead-stowaway\">American Airlines Dead Stowaway<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The American Airlines aircraft had just arrived from Europe and was parked for scheduled maintenance when engineers uncovered the body inside its landing gear compartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CMPD confirmed that homicide detectives and forensic teams were deployed to the scene, with additional support from airport medical and operational units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the aircraft had completed a transatlantic flight, investigators have not yet determined whether the deceased individual originated in Europe or had boarded the aircraft earlier during its operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Previous incidents in the United States show that stowaways have occasionally been discovered after multiple domestic or international rotations, making the origin of such cases complex to confirm, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paddleyourownkanoo.com\/2025\/09\/28\/stowaway-found-dead-in-landing-gear-of-american-airlines-jet-at-charlotte-douglas-airport\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">PYOK<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/American-Airlines-Boeing-777--1024x576.webp\" alt=\"American Airlines Boeing 777\" class=\"wp-image-73193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/American-Airlines-Boeing-777--1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/American-Airlines-Boeing-777--300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/American-Airlines-Boeing-777--768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/American-Airlines-Boeing-777--50x28.webp 50w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/American-Airlines-Boeing-777--150x84.webp 150w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/American-Airlines-Boeing-777--450x253.webp 450w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/American-Airlines-Boeing-777--1200x675.webp 1200w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/American-Airlines-Boeing-777-.webp 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo: Cl\u00e9ment Alloing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-american-airlines-transatlantic-routes\">American Airlines\u2019 Transatlantic Routes<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>American Airlines operates <a href=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/?s=777\">Boeing 777 aircraft<\/a> from Charlotte Douglas International Airport to six European destinations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Frankfurt (FRA)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Munich (MUC)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dublin (DUB)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rome (FCO)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Madrid (MAD)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>London Heathrow (LHR)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The airline runs daily flights to each city, with London served up to three times a day. Given the widebody aircraft used on these routes, the risk of stowaway attempts is higher due to extended flight times and aircraft accessibility at some departure airports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-official-statements-on-the-investigation\">Official Statements on the Investigation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In a statement, CMPD confirmed that the case is active and ongoing. The department noted that further details will be released as available through its Public Affairs Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>American Airlines declined to provide specifics, stating only that the carrier is cooperating fully with law enforcement authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/United_Airlines_Boeing_787-10_on_finals_at_Beijing_Capital_Airport-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-57206\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/United_Airlines_Boeing_787-10_on_finals_at_Beijing_Capital_Airport-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/United_Airlines_Boeing_787-10_on_finals_at_Beijing_Capital_Airport-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/United_Airlines_Boeing_787-10_on_finals_at_Beijing_Capital_Airport-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/United_Airlines_Boeing_787-10_on_finals_at_Beijing_Capital_Airport-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/United_Airlines_Boeing_787-10_on_finals_at_Beijing_Capital_Airport-1140x760.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/United_Airlines_Boeing_787-10_on_finals_at_Beijing_Capital_Airport.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo: By Danny Yu &#8211; https:\/\/www.airliners.net\/photo\/United-Airlines\/Boeing-787-10-Dreamliner\/5587795\/L, CC BY-SA 4.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=80697105<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-similar-incidents\">Similar Incidents<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This incident is not isolated. In December last year, a deceased stowaway was found in the landing gear of a United Airlines (UA) Boeing 787-10 after a flight to Maui (OGG) from Chicago O\u2019Hare (ORD). Investigators later noted the aircraft had recently flown from S\u00e3o Paulo (GRU), a location considered at risk for such attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In January, JetBlue (B6) discovered a body in the landing gear of an Airbus A320 that landed at Fort Lauderdale (FLL) following a flight from New York (JFK). That aircraft had recently operated to Jamaica, another region where such incidents have been reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-extreme-risks-of-landing-gear-stowaways\">The Extreme Risks of Landing Gear Stowaways<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Traveling in an aircraft\u2019s landing gear bay is almost always fatal. At cruising altitudes of 35,000 feet, temperatures can drop between -58\u00b0F and -76\u00b0F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oxygen levels at that height can also cause hypoxia, leading to loss of consciousness and death within minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Survival is rare, though isolated cases exist. Earlier this month, a 13-year-old Afghan boy survived a Kam Air Airbus A340 flight from Kabul (KBL) to New Delhi (DEL) after hiding in the landing gear. He was found alive on the tarmac in Delhi and later deported back to Afghanistan on a regular passenger seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Join us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/s\/aviationa2z\" rel=\"nofollow\">Telegram Group\u00a0<\/a>for the Latest Aviation Updates. Subsequently, follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMPLdrgsw_-jGAw?hl=en-IN&amp;gl=IN&amp;ceid=IN%3Aen\">Google News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-aviation-a-2-z wp-block-embed-aviation-a-2-z\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"itdpdvker2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/28\/american-airlines-faces-lawsuit-over-passengers-false-drug-arrest\/\">American Airlines Faces Lawsuit Over Passenger\u2019s False Drug Arrest<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;American Airlines Faces Lawsuit Over Passenger\u2019s False Drug Arrest&#8221; &#8212; Aviation A2Z\" src=\"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/28\/american-airlines-faces-lawsuit-over-passengers-false-drug-arrest\/embed\/#?secret=sxv1YGXySJ#?secret=itdpdvker2\" data-secret=\"itdpdvker2\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A body was discovered inside the landing gear of an American Airlines (AA) aircraft at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":73195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8577,6761,7308],"tags":[124,15015,16378,25118,2580],"class_list":{"0":"post-114930","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-aviation-incident","8":"category-news","9":"category-us-airlines-news","10":"tag-american-airlines","11":"tag-american-airlines-boeing-777","12":"tag-american-airlines-charlotte-flights","13":"tag-american-airlines-charlotte-hub","14":"tag-american-airlines-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114930"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114937,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114930\/revisions\/114937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}