Passenger found in the front wheel compartment of a cargo plane (not pictured)
Dutch military police have confirmed that a passenger has been found alive, following he slipped and hid in the wheel compartment of a plane flying from South Africa to Amsterdam on Sunday.
It turned out that the man is a Kenyan, aged 22 years, and intends to apply for asylum in the Netherlands.
The man is currently in hospital and receiving medical treatment while he is conscious and can communicate with others.
The cargo plane belonging to the Cargolux company, which was infiltrated by the Kenyan, had taken off from Johannesburg, in South Africa, to the Dutch capital, via Nairobi, in Kenya.
Dutch police are investigating whether the man slipped into the plane in South Africa or Kenya.
A Dutch Military Police spokesman told the BBC: “The man is expected to apply for asylum in the Netherlands, but his medical treatment is the priority at the moment.”
It is unusual for those hiding in aircraft cabins to survive on long flights due to the extremely low temperatures and lack of oxygen at high altitudes.
Over the past five years, seven travelers have arrived in the Netherlands in the same way and only two of them survived.
Flights from Johannesburg to Amsterdam take regarding 11 hours, and it is believed that the trip took longer because the plane stopped in Nairobi.
