Afghan boy flies from Kabul to Delhi hiding in plane’s landing gear
A 13-year-old Afghan boy made a dangerous journey from Kabul to Delhi, hiding in the landing gear compartment of a Kam Air passenger plane.
Officials say the teen, who is from Kunduz city in northern Afghanistan, was found wandering around on the runway at Delhi’s international airport after the plane landed on Monday.He was detained by Indian security personnel and questioned for several hours before being sent back to Kabul on the same flight.
The boy reportedly told authorities he made the journey out of curiosity. A spokesperson from the Indian Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said the boy managed to travel undetected on Kam Airlines flight RQ-4401, which landed in Delhi around 11:10 (05:40 GMT) on Sunday.Police found him roaming around by himself and took him aside for questioning.The boy reportedly told authorities that he had hidden himself in the rear central landing gear compartment of the plane.The airline staff also found a small red-coloured audio speaker after further safety inspections were carried out.
The Indian Express newspaper reported that the 13-year-old wanted to travel to Iran and did not know that the flight he entered was bound for Delhi, not Tehran.
According to the newspaper, the boy sneaked into Kabul airport, trailed a group of passengers, and stowed away in the aircraft’s rear wheel well – the internal compartment which houses the landing gear. He was carrying only the red coloured speaker with him.There have been recent incidents of stowaways hiding in flights to the US or Europe, often escaping their home countries. But very few of them make it out alive.Experts say that many stowaways who survive such flights are often unconscious during descent, putting them at risk of falling to their deaths when the landing gear is lowered.
In 2022, a 22-year-old Kenyan man was found alive in the wheel well of a cargo plane in Amsterdam.
