NEW YORK – Authorities in Hawaii are investigating after a body was discovered in the wheel well of a United Airlines aircraft that landed at Kahului Airport on Maui on Dec 24.
United Airlines Flight 202 departed Chicago O’Hare International Airport at 9:31 a.m. and arrived in Maui at 2:12 p.m., according to flight tracking service FlightAware. Following the landing, airline officials found the body in the wheel well of one of the main landing gears of the Boeing 787-10 aircraft, the airline confirmed in a statement on Dec 25.
The Maui Police Department said the person, who remains unidentified, was deceased. The police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, and United Airlines is assisting law enforcement.
It remains unclear when or how the individual entered the wheel well, which is only accessible from outside the plane. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) previously stated that conditions in wheel storage compartments—characterized by low oxygen levels and extreme temperatures—make survival during flights exceedingly rare.
While police have not classified the incident as a stowaway case, there is precedent for similar situations. In 2021, a man survived a flight from Guatemala to Miami hidden in a landing gear compartment. However, other cases have proven fatal, including a 2019 incident where a person fell from the landing gear of a flight from Nairobi to London, landing in a backyard.
Authorities and United Airlines continue to investigate this tragic discovery.