A stowaway traveled 9,000 km from Johannesburg to Amsterdam hidden in the front landing gear of a cargo plane, military police said on Sunday, adding that the man was hospitalized “in stable condition” .
The unidentified man is said to have slipped aboard the plane before it left Johannesburg, said Joanne Helmonds, spokeswoman for the Royal Netherlands Military Police.
“The man was found alive in the nose gear of the plane and was taken to hospital in stable condition,” she told AFP, adding that “he is completely at risk. remarkable fact that the man is still alive”.
Flights between Johannesburg and Amsterdam take an average of 11 hours.
Stowaways on flights to the Netherlands are rare, according to Joanne Helmonds, who notes that previous attempts have involved people from Nigeria and Kenya.
Last year, border police discovered the body of a Nigerian man in the undercarriage of a plane arriving at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
