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Man Survives 8,000 Mile Flight Clinging To The Outside Of Plane

Photo: Ed Brown/REX Shutterstock
A man survived an 8,000-mile flight from Johannesburg, South Africa, to London clinging to the undercarriage of a plane. Another man died, according to reports in the BBC. One man, not yet identified, was hospitalized on Thursday night after he was discovered at Heathrow Airport by British Airways. The flight from South Africa usually takes about 11 hours. Officials from the airline called the incident "very rare" and said they're investigating. The body of a second man was discovered Thursday night on the roof of a building in Richmond, outside London. It's not been confirmed, but there are reports that the man fell from the same flight, landing on the roof. Riding outside a plane is insanely dangerous, but not unheard of. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration estimates that there have been over 100 cases of people hiding in the undercarriage or wheel wells of flights since 1996, and that only a quarter of them have lived. Last April, a teen boy hid in the wheel well of a five-hour flight from San Jose to Maui and lived. International flights usually reach altitudes of over 35,000 feet and stowaways experience rapid drops in oxygen and freezing temperatures.

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