South African stowaway found dead in British Airways Jumbo's wheel-housing after it lands at Heathrow

Man found dead in landing gear area of a Boeing 747 from Cape Town



Officials in South Africa say he must have scaled a fence and climbed into the jet just before takeoff



The body of a stowaway was found inside a passenger jet that landed at Heathrow today.



British Airways said the corpse was inside the landing gear bay of a Boeing 747 after it arrived at the London airport from Cape Town in South Africa.



'We are liaising with the South African authorities and Cape Town airport after a body was found in the landing gear bay of one of our aircraft,' a company spokesman said.



Mystery: The stowaway was found on a BA flight when it landed at Heathrow this morning

'They are investigating how this incident took place, which involved a Boeing 747 which arrived this morning from Cape Town.



'This is a very rare and sad event and our thoughts are with the individual’s family.'

The Metropolitan Police said the body was a man who was not a member of the jumbo jet’s crew or a passenger on the flight.



The body of the stowaway was discovered in the landing gear bay of British Airways jet

'Police were called at approximately 6.25am on Thursday August 23 to an incoming flight at Heathrow Airport following the discovery of a man’s body,' a spokesman said.



'Officers and London Ambulance Service attended.

'The man was pronounced dead at 7.07am.



'The death is being treated as non-suspicious.



'Inquiries are ongoing to establish the man’s identity.'

It is believed the dead man could be a person who was spotted scaling the fence at Cape Town International Airport last night before heading towards a BA flight getting ready to take off.

Airports Company South Africa, which runs the airport, said it was carrying out an investigation.



A spokeswoman said: 'Last night at approximately 8.40pm a person was detected scaling the perimeter fence at Cape Town International Airport (CTIA).



'The airport immediately responded and, as a security patrol officer attempted to apprehend the man, he ran in the direction of a British Airways aircraft already in its holding pattern ready for take-off.



'For safety reasons the security officer could not approach the aircraft.

'A search of the airfield was immediately conducted but the person was not found.

Home: The man was seen running into Cape Town's airport after scaling a fence

'British Airways, in addition to various other parties, were notified. Further sweeps were conducted of the runway and the broader airfield.



'This morning, reports from London's Heathrow Airport confirmed that a stowaway was found on board a British Airways aircraft. The person was found dead.

