In a shocking incident that left aviation authorities baffled, a 13-year-old boy from Afghanistan was discovered alive inside the landing gear compartment of a Kam Air flight from Kabul to Delhi on September 21.
The Kam Air flight RQ-4401 departed from Kabul and landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) at around 11:10 am after a 1.5-hour journey. When the aircraft began taxiing, airline staff spotted the boy, a resident of Afghanistan’s Kunduz province, walking on the taxiway near the plane.
Officials immediately alerted the airport’s Security Operations Control Centre, and the child was detained for questioning. Security agencies, including the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), handled the case.
Globally, people who hide inside the wheel bays of aircraft are referred to as “wheel-well stowaways.” The practice is extremely risky due to several factors:
- Freezing temperatures at high altitudes
- Severe oxygen deprivation during cruising
- Limited, cramped space inside landing gear compartments
Most such attempts end fatally, often due to hypothermia or asphyxiation. Survival in these conditions is considered rare and almost miraculous. During hours of interrogation at Termina-3, CISF officials said the boy admitted to sneaking into Kabul airport and climbing into the aircraft’s rear central landing gear. He reportedly told interrogators he attempted the stunt purely “out of curiosity.”
Airport authorities also recovered a red-colored speaker believed to belong to the boy during a post-flight inspection of the Kam Air aircraft. The aircraft was later cleared after thorough security checks.
Following questioning, the boy was deported back to Kabul the same day. He boarded another flight at around 4 pm. Officials confirmed that he had slipped past airport security in Afghanistan before hiding inside the plane’s undercarriage.
While rare, aircraft stowaway incidents have been reported in several countries. Most end in tragedy, highlighting the deadly risks involved. This case, however, drew attention for the sheer improbability of a teenager surviving such extreme conditions during the Kabul-to-Delhi journey.
The incident underscores the vulnerabilities in airport security and the life-threatening risks of wheel-well stowaways. While the Afghan boy survived this dangerous attempt, experts warn that such journeys almost always prove fatal.
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