JetBlue and federal investigators are trying to figure out how two stowaways traveled from JFK Airport to Florida in the wheel well of a plane. The pair was found dead in the landing gear during routine inspection at Fort Lauderdale’s Airport hours after taking off from NYC Monday night. NBC New York’s Pe-Sze Cheng reports.
Two people were found dead in the landing gear of a JetBlue flight out of John F. Kennedy International Airport after it landed in Florida, authorities say Tuesday.
According to JetBlue, the bodies of two men were found during routine post-flight maintenance inspection after the flight landed at Fort-Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Monday evening. The plane had landed in Florida just after 11 p.m., following stops earlier in the day in Salt Lake City and Kingston, Jamaica.
Their identities were not known, an airline spokesperson said. It was not clear when the men got onto the plan or how long they had been there. Investigators were looking into why the men hadn't been discovered until the plane's final stop of the day.
"At this time, the identities of the individuals and the circumstances surrounding how they accessed the aircraft remain under investigation," JetBlue said in a statement. "This is a heartbreaking situation, and we are committed to working closely with authorities to support their efforts to understand how this occurred."
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During a flight, temperatures in the landing gear compartment can plummet to as low as 76 degrees below zero.
