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Looking into the wheel well of a plane on the tarmac in Wisconsin in 2007 A 16-year-old survived a flight from California to Hawaii, hiding in the wheel well. What happens to the human body under those conditions, asks Tara McKelvey.Ninety-six people are known to have hidden under planes during flights around the world between 1947 and 2012, according to the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute in the US, and 23 survived.
During this five-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean, at an altitude of 11,600m (38,000ft), the teenager reportedly lost consciousness - unsurprising given the lack of oxygen supplied to the brain. "You'd get shortness of breath and then you'd just kind of doze off," says Peter Hackett, director of the Institute for Altitude Medicine in Telluride, Colorado. "It wouldn't be uncomfortable."
Continue reading the main story Lack of oxygen makes you unconsciousExtreme cold reduces heart functionDecompression sickness can be fatalLowering landing gear is another hazardBut more than 20 people - usually young - are known to have survived Another problem for plane stowaways is the extreme cold - as low as -62C (-80F). "In a cold state, the heart isn't pumping as much blood," says Hackett. "And what blood there is goes to the brain." At a certain point, individuals fall into a "poikilothermic condition", according to authors of a 1996 report for the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This is similar to hibernation, when the body needs less oxygen than normal. The heart rate and breathing slow down dramatically.Stowaways may also suffer from decompression sickness, caused by an abrupt drop in surrounding pressure. Gas bubbles form in tissues and blood vessels and slow down the flow of blood.
Young people are more likely to survive. The authors of the FAA report said a "youthful, thin" individual has a better chance of enduring this than someone who is "heavy-set and older".
In 2000, a man survived a seven-hour flight from French Polynesia to Los Angeles, "spattered with oil from the landing gear and with his clothes ripped to shreds", according to the Los Angeles Times. And last year, a teenage boy endured a short flight in a wheel well in Nigeria. Others have died when the landing gear is lowered."I would not have predicted survival," says Michael Yaron, a professor of emergency medicine at University of Colorado at Denver, when asked about the boy in Hawaii. "Miracles happen. Lucky kid."
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ReutersAustralia's Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd.Sydney - Australia said on Friday it is doing all it can to bring home a 14-year-old boy arrested in Bali for allegedly possessing marijuana, but that it recognised the case was subject to Indonesian law. The boy, who was allegedly carrying a small amount of the drug when he was picked up on the resort island of Bali on Tuesday, could face a lengthy jail term if convicted. “As a government, we have our best people working on this case of this 14-year-old boy,” Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters. “Our aim here is to provide every support we can to him and his family, and our aim is to get him back in Australia.” Gillard said the matter was a sensitive one governed by Indonesian law and that she would not make any judgments on the case, but added she had been shocked by the incident and her heart went out to the teenager's family. “The only thing that will ever drive me or anybody else in government is what is in the best interests of this boy, but from a simple human perspective I'm sure we would all wish that this boy is released and returned to Australia as soon as possible,” she said. Gillard said the boy was at a police station in Denpasar, and was being kept separate from other detainees and with access to his parents. Earlier, Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said consular officials were in close contact with Indonesian authorities and he had told Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs to make the matter its top priority. “My heart goes out to the parents,” Rudd said. “I'm sure many Australians would feel exactly the same and we will do all within our power to support them and to get this young fella back home.” Police in Denpasar said Friday they were still questioning the teenager. “The boy's parents and a lawyer have come to see him. Australian officials have also arrived,” police spokesman Hariadi told AFP. The lawyer Muhammad Rifan told reporters that a psychologist had assessed the boy and found him to be in a poor condition. “He is still being interviewed at the police station. He is young, so he is under a lot of stress in detention,” Rifan said, adding that the boy had been on holiday with his parents, who were present at the police interviews. “The police are prioritising this case because he is a minor. By law, cases that involve minors should be dealt with quickly,” he said. Police told AFP the teenager was arrested on Tuesday with 6.9 grams of marijuana as he returned to his hotel from a massage in the Kuta tourist area. Australian media reported that the boy told police the dealer said he had not eaten for a day and needed money. The teenager paid 250 000 rupiah ($28) for the drugs, the reports said. Children face the same courts as adults in Indonesia and are often imprisoned with adults although there is a separate children's cell in Bali's Kerobokan jail. Several Australians have been arrested for drug possession on Bali island in recent years, while two traffickers are on death row and six serving life sentences in Kerobokan. - Sapa-AFP