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Experts Say Hitching a Ride In an Airliner's Wheel Well Is Not a Good Idea
Hugh Pickens DOT Com (2995471) writes "Hasani Gittens reports that as miraculous as it was that a 16-year-old California boy was able to hitch a ride from San Jose to Hawaii and survive, it isn't the first time a wheel-well stowaway has lived to tell about it. The FAA says that since 1947 there have been 105 people who have tried to surreptitiously travel in plane landing gear — with a survival rate of about 25 percent. But agency adds that the actual numbers are probably higher, as some survivors may have escaped unnoticed, and bodies could fall into the ocean undetected. Except for the occasional happy ending, hiding in the landing gear of a aircraft as it soars miles above the Earth is generally a losing proposition. According to an FAA/Wright State University study titled 'Survival at High Altitudes: Wheel-Well Passengers,' at 20,000 feet the temperature experienced by a stowaway would be -13 F, at 30,000 it would be -45 in the wheel well — and at 40,000 feet, the mercury plunges to a deadly -85 F (PDF). 'You're dealing with an incredibly harsh environment,' says aviation and security expert Anthony Roman. 'Temperatures can reach -50 F, and oxygen levels there are barely sustainable for life.' Even if a strong-bodied individual is lucky enough to stand the cold and the lack of oxygen, there's still the issue of falling out of the plane. 'It's almost impossible not to get thrown out when the gear opens,' says Roman.
So how do the lucky one-in-four survive? The answer, surprisingly, is that a few factors of human physiology are at play: As the aircraft climbs, the body enters a state of hypoxia—that is, it lacks oxygen—and the person passes out. At the same time, the frigid temperatures cause a state of hypothermia, which preserves the nervous system. 'It's similar to a young kid who falls to the bottom of an icy lake," says Roman. "and two hours later he survives, because he was so cold.'"
So how do the lucky one-in-four survive? The answer, surprisingly, is that a few factors of human physiology are at play: As the aircraft climbs, the body enters a state of hypoxia—that is, it lacks oxygen—and the person passes out. At the same time, the frigid temperatures cause a state of hypothermia, which preserves the nervous system. 'It's similar to a young kid who falls to the bottom of an icy lake," says Roman. "and two hours later he survives, because he was so cold.'"
brought to you by No Duh Airlines.
Table-ized A.I.
I'm glad the "experts" cleared that up for me. I guess I'll have to change my vacation plans!
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
Never mind the lack of oxygen and the cold, what about simply getting crushed when the gear is retracted? That's game over at 200 ft.
i'd watch it.
If people who die in a wheel well always have their dead bodies discovered, while *some* of the people who survive a wheel-well journey don't -- they sneak out on the tarmac undetected -- then the survival rate of 25 percent must be an under-estimate, or at least is potentially an under-estimate.
David W. Hogg -- assoc prof, NYU Physics
At 20,000 feet the temperature experienced by a stowaway would be -13 F, at 30,000 it would be -45 in the wheel well — and at 40,000 feet, the mercury plunges to a deadly -85 F
Lol, feet and degrees Fahreheit, wtf is this, the 17th century?
Oh wait. America.
Mercury can't plunge to -85 degrees Fahrenheit. It solidifies at -37.8922 degrees Fahrenheit. Fail.
Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
...that's where I'm convinced.
No annoying seat neighbors. No screaming kids within earshot. Not getting groped and molested while going through security. You can bring any amount of liquids. You can even bring and consume your own alcohol. Etc ..
Why do they bother with all of the ridiculous security protocols for airline passengers when apparently it's pretty easy to sneak a 16-year-old-kid-sized bomb into the wheel well of an aircraft on the tarmac?
So much neater and easier than trying to sneak weapons through airport security. And the best part is, you don't have to commit suicide to take the plane down.
Seriously, airplane security is clearly full of holes and the sham of passenger security checks is just that, a sham meant to make us 'feel' safe while wasting our time and shoveling tons of dollars to the TSA.
1. Dress warmly. Even if the plane takes off in a tropical location. Make sure to cover exposed body parts - you don't want to pay with eary, fingers, toes or your nose for the trip.
2. Bring oxygen (that's going to be the hard part. Several hours worth of oxygen).
3. Familiarize yourself with various plane types so you don't get crushed by an unsuitable wheel well design.
4. Secure yourself to the plane so you don't get thrown out during landing.
What I get out of this story is that, if you're lucky enough to survive the trip in the wheel well, it's much more convenient to travel this way than doing it the regular way: no queuing, no overcharging from the airlines, no restrictions on the amounts of liquids you can carry, no getting your gonads showered with x-rays, no groping from TSA perverts... and of course, no arbitrary, secret no-fly list that prevents you from boarding the plane in the first place.
The airport security theater almost makes me want to risk my life as a stowaway.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
... is that sick?
So there are three factors that you need to deal with apparently.
1. The cold.
Solution: Get yourself a really good jacket. Something you could take to the north pole... should be enough.
2. Lack of oxygen.
Solution: Get yourself an O2 tank... The kind they take to Everest. Just something to supplement the air you're breathing.
3. Falling out of the god damn airplane.
Solution: Some basic mountaineering gear would likely do the trick. Just ropes and clamps.
All told, what you seem to need are high altitude mountaineering gear. So, some cold weather gear, an oxygen bottle, and some ropes. Doubtless it would be a nasty ride but you'd probably survive.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
"Normal People Also Say Hitching a Ride In an Airliner's Wheel Well Is Not a Good Idea"
What about the engine noise? Does one need to bring the earplugs?
For those outside of Lybia, USA, and Burma:
20,000 feet = 6km
40,000 feet = 12,2km
-13F = -25C
-85F = -65C
Hivemind harvest in progress..
... you might as well make the reason alcohol intoxication instead of hypoxia.
Also, bring hard liquor. The hardest stuff you can find. Anything else might freeze.
Why do they bother with all of the ridiculous security protocols for airline passengers when apparently it's pretty easy to sneak a 16-year-old-kid-sized bomb into the wheel well of an aircraft on the tarmac?
The Government fights the last war, because it's reactive rather than proactive. If 9/11 had consisted of four blown up airliners via wheel well bombs this hole would have been closed a long time ago. Likewise, if some jackass hadn't tried to light his sneakers on fire we'd still be able to board without taking our shoes off.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Bah. You kids these days...
Back in my day, we didn't complain about the cold and lack of oxygen. We rode in unpressurized planes with open gun ports. Sure, it was cold -- we wore fur lined jackets and liked it. Our oxygen masks smelled like engine exhaust and we were grateful. You didn't here us whine about 'being crushed by landing gear' or 'being thrown from the plane'. We were being shot at. Hell, we were lucky to have landing gear at all when we got back.
So, stop your bitching and get off my damn lawn.
Written for my grandfather who manned a gun in a WWII bomber.
I guess the memo had a misspelling. The wheel wells seem to be a good place for terrorists, not for tourists.
If someone can sneak up to the plane and climb in, it should be equally easy to put a bomb there. If a 16-year-old can find a way to squeeze into that space, it wouldn't be too difficult to fit in a couple hundred pounds of explosives.
Given the survival rate for this kind of transportation method, they probably run out of anarchists, so they put the manual offline...
And no molestation by the TSA I would assume.
The first part I get, but how does "bodies falling into the ocean" mean the survival numbers are probably higher?
It means all the numbers: quite likely there are more stowaways who fell into water-or woods even-and never had their bodies recovered, and some stowaways could have safely made it undetected. So there is know way to know the true survival rate.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Experts Say Hitching a Ride In an Airliner's Wheel Well Is Not a Good Idea
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120930201320/fairytail/images/3/30/You_don't_say.png
http://youtu.be/b6qyX1L8p_Q
If the airplane wheels were sitting for a long time on a hot pavement, I would expect the compartment to be kept lot warmer that the outside air.
Jetset freighthopping?
Stainless steel hobo?
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Given the physiological limitations of the human body, when I first read this story and everyone was screaming about security, I was thinking how did he survive? I've done some skydives from 30,000 feet, obviously with full O2 mask, warm clothing, etc. And been to a few chamber ride classes. Whole security thing we can argue for eternity but comment of, "frigid temperatures cause a state of hypothermia, which preserves the nervous system." Now that's interesting.
I never would ever consider riding in a wheel well, first danger is those doors first lower prior to wheel retraction (if on one of those, drop you go). Then when wheel folds up, would know where to place yourself without getting crushed?
I remember in a magazine back in early 1970s or a long time ago, someone got a photo of a person falling from a airliner on takeoff. Apparently photog took a picture of an airliner taking off and happen to catch unlucky "hitchhiker" who fell from the wheel well.
mfwright@batnet.com
Why was this kid this desparate to get into any plane wheel well? Did they return him to an unsafe home environment in California?
A belly landing on the tarmac would likely be scary and newsworthy, but there's a good chance that relatively few people would be hurt/killed.
Step number 2 should be "bring a rebreather", rather than an oxygen tank. Rebreathers should be good for trans-pacific flights, 1.5-8 hour capacity, theoretically speaking.
Then again, Not sure how well they will work at 40,000 feet in the atmosphere. Nor if the sensors will know how to prevent you getting stoned out of your mind on too much oxygen (depending on the particular configuration of the rebreather). Still a rebreather would be my tank of preference for a wheel well trip.
But then if you can afford the $4000-$15,000+ for a rebreather, you could probably afford to hire a private jet.
Of course, you could probably save a bunch of money, if you plan on being a frequent-wheel-well-flyer.
My grandfather manned a gun in a real open cockpit in WWI, flying in planes put together by wires, cloth and wood.
He took one of those wires through his chest in a crash landing, and lived to tell the tale, get married, have kids and eventully die mowing his grass one week after lung surgery because he was bullheaded, stubborn, Irishman [yeah runs in the family].
typo... hate it when that happens (and autocorrect "fixes" it)