A 21- year-old man managed to walk his way down a wheel well of a Garuda Indonesia jetliner where he had hidden throughout its one-hour flight from Pekanbaru, Riau, to Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon.

But Mario Steve Ambarita was quick to be rushed to a clinic at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport shortly after airport employees discovered him staggering to his feet at the apron.

'He is not yet stable ['¦] his fingers turned blue and one of his ears was bleeding,' Garuda spokesman Pujobroto said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Mario somehow managed to trespass Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru and ran to the Boeing 737-800 while it was making its final preparations for take off at one end of the airport's single runway, he said.

'The man had made preparations ['¦] he learned from the Internet and observed the nature of departing aircraft in the airport over the last several days. He knew that aircraft would pause a little before accelerating for take off,' Pujobroto said.

'He said he wanted to see Jakarta, the city where he was born,' he added.

Pujobroto said Garuda would let airport authorities investigate how Mario entered an area that was supposed to be highly restricted.

Mario survived the flight, which carried him up to 40,000 feet where the air was very thin, the temperature was well below zero degrees and the oxygen was very limited. (bbs/nvn)(++++)