A 13-year-old boy from Afghanistan stunned airport authorities when he arrived at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport hiding inside the landing gear of a Kam Air flight from Kabul on Sunday. The flight, RQ-4401, landed after a 1.5-hour journey at around 11:10 am.
In aviation, such attempts are known as “wheel-well stowaways,” where travellers conceal themselves in the aircraft’s undercarriage a highly risky endeavor due to low oxygenfreezing temperatures, and cramped space. Many such attempts result in deadly accidents.
Airport officials said the boy, a native of Kunduz, was spotted walking on the taxiway as the plane arrived. He was immediately detained and handed over to security agencies, including the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), who questioned him for several hours. The boy reportedly told officials he had sneaked into the Kabul airport and climbed into the landing gear “out of curiosity.”
He was later sent back to Kabul on another flight the same day. During aircraft inspection, a red-colored speaker, believed to belong to him, was recovered. Authorities confirmed the aircraft was cleared after security checks.
While rare, such stowaway incidents have been reported before, including cases in the US, Algeria, and France.
