Maui police are investigating the discovery of a dead body in the wheel well of a United Airlines plane after it landed in Maui, the airline and police department said in statements on Wednesday. The body was found in the wheel well of one of the main landing gears on flight 202, which arrived at Kahului Airport from Chicago on Tuesday, United said in an emailed statement.
The airline said the wheel well of the Boeing 787-10 was only accessible from the outside of the aircraft, and that it was unclear how or when the person accessed it. In an emailed statement, the Maui Police Department said it was “actively investigating" the discovery of the dead body.
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Neither United nor the Maui Police Department shared further details. The Associated Press called Kahului Airport on Wednesday and was directed to a public affairs officer for the state Department of transportation. The public affairs officer did not immediately respond to a voicemail and email from AP requesting comment.
Person dies after falling into engine of KLM Airlines' flight
In a similar incident, a person died after ending up in a running aircraft engine at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, Dutch airline KLM said in May this year. The investigation has not yet identified who the person was, a Marechaussee spokesperson told Reuters. The spokesperson added that it was too early to say whether this was an "incident", or a form of suicide. He added that all passengers and crew, who will be important witnesses to the investigation, had safely left the plane.
"Today there was a horrible incident where a person ended up in an aeroplane engine. Our thoughts go out to the relatives and we care for the passengers and colleagues who witnessed this. The royal military police [the Marechaussee] are currently conducting an investigation," the airline said in a statement.
The indication that the engine was operational implied that the Cityhopper plane was getting ready for departure, as per the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. De Telegraaf's website conveyed, "An employee onboard the aircraft noted that an individual leapt into the engine right after the crew finished the safety instructions. Following this, there was a cacophonous noise, accompanied by a brief sight of smoke. Both passengers and staff witnessed the incident firsthand."
(With inputs from agency)
