Coroners and sheriff’s deputies descended on a Jet Blue plane at the Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida late Monday after two bodies were found in the landing gear compartment.
JetBlue issued a statement to the Deseret News Tuesday confirming there were two people found deceased in the landing gear of one of the company’s aircrafts. The bodies were found during a routine inspection.
“This is a heartbreaking situation, and we are committed to working closely with authorities to support their efforts to understand how this occurred,” per the JetBlue Communications release.
How the two people wound up in the compartment is unknown and an investigation is underway.
The aircraft had traveled from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, departing at 8:20 p.m. and landing in Florida at 11:03 p.m., per CBS.
The two people were pronounced dead at the scene and it is unclear how long the two of them had been in the compartment, per The New York Times.
The plane’s day started in Kingston, Jamaica, it then flew to JFK and next to Salt Lake City, before returning to JFK for the final flight to Florida.
According to CBS, the plane had arrived in Kingston on Jan. 5 and overnighted at the airport.
The identities of the deceased are unknown, but they are both male.
Jamaican media is reporting that it is believed the deceased are Jamaican nationals but that has not been confirmed, per CBS.
Stowaways in landing gear compartments
According to The New York Times, landing gear compartments have long been used by those trying to stowaway on a plane undetected. It is unknown whether the two deceased were stowaways.
It has proven deadly to hide in landing gear compartments in the past. As the compartments open and close for takeoff and landing, it is possible fall out and people have fallen to their deaths.
But there are still risks for those who manage to stay inside the compartment, such as being crushed by the landing gear. Other hazards include “severe temperatures, pressure changes and lack of oxygen. Many stowaways die of hypothermia,” per The New York Times.
According to CNN, over 77% of people who stowaway on planes this way die.
A similar incident in Hawaii
On Dec. 24, a body was found in the wheel well of a United Airlines aircraft in Maui, Hawaii, that had flown in from Chicago, per CBS.
There is still no explanation for how that person got there.