A stowaway on an airplane is in critical condition in Paris.

On the morning of December 28, an individual was discovered alive but in critical condition in the undercarriage bay of an Air Algeria airplane at Paris Orly airport, as reported by a security source briefed on the matter to Reuters.

The person found in the undercarriage bay was facing life-threatening conditions and was promptly transported to a nearby hospital for urgent medical attention, according to the source.

The aircraft in question had originated from Oran, a town located in western Algeria, and had completed a two-and-a-half-hour flight to Paris. The circumstances surrounding the stowaway’s presence in the undercarriage bay were not immediately clear.

Stowaways who find themselves in the unpressurized wheel-houses and cargo holds of airplanes confront extreme conditions, including temperatures ranging from minus 50 Celsius (minus 58 Fahrenheit) to minus 60 Celsius (minus 76 Fahrenheit), as well as a lack of oxygen. The perilous nature of such stowaway attempts has been highlighted by previous incidents.

In 2019, a suspected stowaway’s body fell from a plane flying over southwest London, plummeting hundreds of meters and landing in the garden of a resident’s home. Fortunately, the individual narrowly missed a man who was sunbathing at the time.

Similarly, in 2015, a stowaway on a British Airways flight from Johannesburg to Heathrow was not as fortunate, as the person’s lifeless body landed on a shop in Richmond, southwest London. In a peculiar turn of events, a second stowaway from the same flight managed to survive the 10-hour journey and was discovered in the undercarriage of the plane.

These incidents underscore the inherent dangers and challenges faced by individuals attempting to stow away in the confined and inhospitable spaces of an aircraft’s undercarriage. The extreme temperatures and lack of oxygen at high altitudes pose severe risks to the lives of those who embark on such perilous journeys. Authorities often emphasize the importance of aviation security measures to prevent unauthorized access to aircraft and ensure the safety of both passengers and potential stowaways.

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