Maui news circulates of a teenager surviving after getting stuck in a plane's (on a flight to Maui) wheel well. The teenager is 16 years old, and thankfully, this Maui news is of good news as the boy survived from the California to Maui flight.
According to Maui news reports, the 16-year-old boy hopped the fence of San Jose International Airport. The teenager allegedly ran away after an argument with his family and the boy bizarrely chose to hide into the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines flight bound for Maui. The boy managed to squeeze into the plane's wheel well, where he fortunately got out in time unharmed, though confused some five hours later.
This Maui news has federal investigators and airline authorities still puzzled on how the boy survived inside the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines flight from San Jose, California, to Maui, in Hawaii for so long on Sunday.
Officials relating to this Maui news said that the teenager apparently escaped his Santa Clara, California home after having a quarrel with his family. The teenage boy jumped the San Jose International Airport fence, where he afterwards went inside the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines flight heading for Maui.
Astoundingly, this Maui news has a happy ending as the boy managed to stay alive after hiding for five hours in the wheel well and despite conditions in the plane's wheel well. He survived a lack of oxygen and freezing temperatures as the plane climbed to 12,000 meters, or 39,000 feet. Fortunately, the young boy survived the 5-hour trip from California to Maui. Maui reports say that he was found wandering the airport grounds in Maui after the aircraft landed.
Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman said that airline staff noticed the boy after the plane landed on Sunday morning. The Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman added further, "Our primary concern now is for the well-being of the boy, who is exceptionally lucky to have survived."
Maui news reports say that the boy was questioned by the FBI and given a medical screening and was said to be in a stable condition.
FBI spokesman Tom Simon told the Associated Press, "Kid's lucky to be alive. He was unconscious for the lion's share of the flight."
The boy's only possession when he landed: a comb for his hair. Since 1947, about 100 wheel well stowaways are thought to have attempted to board flights, of whom around three-quarters died. It is known that very few people have survived a long flight in a plane's wheel well.
Maui news reports say that the teenager was later released to child-protective services and no criminal charges were filed against him. This boy was indeed very lucky.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
