Tokyo, Japan --  

Delta Airlines flight seem to be carrying an extra passenger on its flight 59 on Sunday from New York to Tokyo. A dead man was found in the landing gear compartment of the Boeing 777 aircraft by a mechanic around 6:05 p.m. on Sunday. Police has reported the man to be a black man clad in a long-sleeved, plaid shirt and jeans. No visible injuries were reported.

Japanese officials are seeking American counterparts' help to identify the victim.

The body, found inside of the door of the landing gear storage compartment on the Boeing 777, had no visible injuries except signs of frostbite.

The temperature in that part of the plane falls to about 58 degrees below zero during flight, officials said.

"Doctors say he probably froze to death and that he suffered a shortage of oxygen" at an altitude of more than about 30,000 feet, a police official said.

"We found no passport, no bag and no personal belongings," the official said. "If he carried any luggage, it must have all dropped out when the airplane opened up the hatch of the landing gear bay above the ocean before it landed."

Source: www.nydailynews.com

This is not the first time when a man has been found in the landing gear compartment.

 

In 2003, a man's body was found in the main landing gear storage compartment of a jet that landed at Narita Airport on a flight from Hong Kong. In 2007, a man was found dead in the nose gear wheel well on a United Airlines Boeing 747 that arrived at San Francisco International Airport from Shanghai.Source: www.nydailynews.com

 

It does make you wonder - with all the security, how did the man got into the landing gear compartment? Should we assume that the person was an airport worker with clearance? Did he accidentally lock himself up or was it intentional?