Stowaway falls to his death from jet as it approaches Heathrow
A suspected stowaway was found dead on the roof of a London office block after plunging from a jumbo jet as it approached Heathrow Airport.
The man's body was discovered on top of the offices of NotOnTheHighStreet.com, which is on a busy road in the south-west of the capital.
Another stowaway survived the 8,000-mile flight from South Africa by holding on to the undercarriage of a British Airways Boeing 747 before being taken to hospital where he is said to be in a 'serious' condition.
It is believed the two men sneaked on to flight BA0054 before it set off from Johannesburg airport on Wednesday evening.
They are then thought to have hidden in the wheel recess during the airliner's 11-hour five-minute overnight flight to London.
It is understood one of the men fell out as the undercarriage came down on the plane's approach to Heathrow, while the other - who would have spent the night in temperatures as low as -50C - clung on.
The plane would have been at an altitude of around 1,400ft when it passed over Richmond, flight data reveals.
A worker in shop near where the man landed said: 'It's very sad. No one can believe it could happen in a normal place like this. We're all very surprised.'
Police say they are treating claims the man was a stowaway on the flight from Johannesburg as 'one line of inquiry'.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'Police were called at approximately 09:35 on Thursday 18 June to Kew Road, Richmond, to reports of a body discovered.
'Officers and London Ambulance Service attended and found body of dead male on the roof of a business premises.
'The death is currently being treated as unexplained. A post-mortem examination will be held in due course. Enquiries are ongoing to establish the male's identity. No arrests have been made.'
Describing the case of the man who survived the flight, the police spokesman added: 'We were alerted to reports of a suspected stowaway on a flight from Johannesburg to Heathrow.
'A man, aged between 25 and 30 years, has been taken to a west London hospital. His condition remains serious. Enquiries are ongoing to establish the man’s identity.'
British Airways has described the case as 'very rare'.
A spokesman for NotOnTheHighStreet.com said there was 'early indications are that the body may be that of an airline stowaway', and added: 'The incident is unrelated to the business or its team members.'
In August 2012, the body of a man was found in the landing gear of another Boeing 747 after it landed on a flight from Cape Town, South Africa.
The following month, the body of a man from Mozambique fell from a British Airways plane flying into Heathrow from Luanda, Angola.
In July 2013, a stowaway was found frozen to death in the undercarriage of another BA jet following a flight from Istanbul to Heathrow.
Credit: Daily Mail
