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NBC reports that as miraculous as it was that a 16-year-old California boy was able to hitch a ride from San Jose to Hawaii and survive, it isn't the first time a wheel-well stowaway has lived to tell about it.
The FAA says that since 1947 there have been 105 people who have tried to surreptitiously travel in plane landing gear world-wide on 94 flights with a survival rate of about 25 percent. But the agency adds that the actual numbers are probably higher, as some survivors may have escaped unnoticed, and bodies could fall into the ocean undetected. Except for the occasional happy ending, hiding in the landing gear of a aircraft as it soars miles above the Earth is generally a losing proposition.
According to a study titled "Survival at High Altitudes: Wheel-Well Passengers" (PDF) by FAA/Wright State University:
At 20,000 feet the temperature experienced by a stowaway would be -13 F, at 30,000 it would be -45 in the wheel well and at 40,000 feet, it can plunge to a deadly -85 F. "You're dealing with an incredibly harsh environment," says aviation and security expert Anthony Roman. "Temperatures can reach -50 F, and oxygen levels there are barely sustainable for life." Even if a strong-bodied individual is lucky enough to stand the cold and the lack of oxygen, there's still the issue of falling out of the plane. "It's almost impossible not to get thrown out when the gear opens," says Roman.
So how do the lucky one-in-four survive? The answer, surprisingly, is that a few factors of human physiology are at play: As the aircraft climbs, the body enters a state of hypoxia-that is, it lacks oxygen-and the person passes out. At the same time, the frigid temperatures cause a state of hypothermia, which preserves the nervous system. "It's similar to a young kid who falls to the bottom of an icy lake," says Roman "And two hours later he survives, because he was so cold."
(Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Wednesday April 23 2014, @08:27PM
40K is a bit high, exceeds the service ceiling for some big jetliners. 30K, yes, but you don't see many jetliners much above 40K. Especially considering the 25% survival rate, it would not surprise me to find more survivors on unusually low altitude flights (due to weather or winds or whatever)
Also my grandfather's B-24 was unpressurized and they wore rather heavy coats (although they had O2) and they flew at rather high altitudes.
I'm sure the temps terrify Miami residents, although no one died locally when we were at -20F for days on end this winter. With windchill it was much worse like the -50s to -60s and you have to start being careful around those temps but its obviously no big deal and totally survivable with the correct gear.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by frojack on Wednesday April 23 2014, @09:26PM
We also don't know much about the actual temperature in wheel wells.
Its probably no where near the outside temperature in modern airplanes, if for no other reason that air leakage is going to be from the inside of the pressurized plane, through any wiring holes, to the outside of the plane. Any such air leakage might also mitigate the pressure drop, and supply warmth and oxygen.
Wheel wells on modern planes have a boat load of hydraulics running through them [airliners.net], some of this can be hot, especially of those pipes lead to the ailerons which are constantly in motion.
The press is never going to give the true picture of life in a wheel well.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Informative) by isostatic on Wednesday April 23 2014, @11:06PM
Modern jets on mid-hauls (say 4 hours+) tend to operate in a 30k-42k service ceiling. I've certainly seen 40k+ on the IFE numerous times. A 757 service ceiling is 42k.