Afghan boy flies to India by hiding in plane’s landing gear

By Issy Ronald, Esha Mitra, CNN

(CNN) — An Afghan boy traveled from Kabul to Delhi by hiding in the landing gear compartment of a plane, Indian authorities have said.

The boy, who authorities estimated was about 13 years old, was found wandering around the tarmac near where the plane had parked shortly after it had landed on Sunday morning, according to a statement from India’s Central Industrial Security Force.

When they questioned him, authorities found he was from Kunduz in northern Afghanistan and that he had traveled by hiding in the “rear central landing gear” of a KAM Airlines aircraft, the statement added.

They also found a small red audio speaker in the area the boy was hiding. He was repatriated back to Afghanistan later that day.

The distance between Kabul and Delhi is about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) and the flight took about an hour and a half.

Hiding in a plane’s wheel well is the most common method used by stowaways in their sought-after journeys, even though it is incredibly dangerous.

More than 77% of people who have attempted to hitch an illegal ride on an aircraft have died, the Federal Aviation Administration said in 2019.

Stowaways often get crushed when the landing gear retracts, as there’s not much room; in many aircraft, the space is even smaller than the trunk of a car.

As the flight reaches higher altitudes, conditions get worse. Oxygen levels become extremely low and stowaways can often struggle to stay conscious. During the flight, temperatures outside an airplane can drop dramatically, with stowaways risking frostbite and even hypothermia.

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CNN’s Nicole Chavez contributed reporting.