Desperate Afghan Teen Survives Perilous Stowaway Journey in Plane’s Landing Gear

23rd September 2025 at 9:38 AM

2 minutes read

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New Delhi — A 13-year-old Afghan boy from Kunduz left authorities at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport reeling after he emerged unscathed from a high-risk hiding spot: the landing gear compartment of a Kam Air flight from Kabul.

The dramatic discovery unfolded around 11:10 a.m. on Sunday, when Kam Air flight RQ-4401 touched down following a 90-minute flight. As the plane taxied to its gate, the airline’s chief security officer noticed the teenager wandering on the taxiway nearby and promptly notified the airport’s Security Operations Control Centre, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Security personnel swiftly apprehended the boy and transferred him to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at Terminal 3 for interrogation. Over the course of several hours, the teen recounted how he had slipped undetected into Kabul’s airport and scaled into the rear central landing gear bay prior to takeoff. “He said he managed to sneak inside the airport and the landing gear without being detected,” one CISF officer involved in the questioning revealed, also speaking anonymously.

Known internationally as “wheel-well stowaways,” these clandestine voyages involve individuals squeezing into the aircraft’s undercarriage or wheel bay a confined space exposed to freezing temperatures, low oxygen levels, and crushing pressures at cruising altitude. Such ordeals often end in tragedy from hypothermia or asphyxiation, as noted by Bloomberg in its coverage of similar incidents.

Remarkably, the boy endured the conditions and was cleared for repatriation later that afternoon, boarding a return flight to Kabul around 4 p.m. A subsequent thorough examination of the Kam Air plane uncovered a red-colored speaker in the landing gear area, presumed to be the teen’s possession, the CISF officer added. After rigorous security protocols, the aircraft received official clearance to resume operations.

While stowaway cases remain infrequent, they underscore the dangers of unauthorized travel. Just last January, two men’s bodies were recovered from the landing gear of a JetBlue flight arriving in Florida from the Dominican Republic. In December 2023, an Algerian teenager landed in Paris from Oran in grave condition, battling severe hypothermia. And back in 2021, a Guatemalan man miraculously survived hours in a Miami-bound plane’s wheel well.

This episode highlights the ongoing perils faced by those driven to extreme measures amid regional instability, though officials emphasized the boy’s swift return to ensure his safety.