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Feb 8, 2010 7:15 pm US/Eastern
Body Found In Landing Gear Of NYC-To-Tokyo Flight
Temperatures Estimated At Minus-58 Inside Compartment Where Apparent Stowaway Hid For 6,760-Mile Journey
Officials: Man Likely Entered Plane In Atlanta, Possibly In Late January
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Video still of Delta flight where the body of an apparent stowaway was found in the plane's wheel well on Feb. 8, 2010.
CBS
A tragic discovery has revealed potentially dangerous holes in airport safety. The body of a stowaway was found on a Delta flight from New York to Tokyo, hidden in a wheel well. The finding sparks new questions about how and when the security slip-up happened.
When Delta flight 59 landed at Japan's Narita International Airport yesterday about 6:05 p.m. Tokyo time, mechanics going over the large Boeing 777 made the rather grim discovery in the landing gear.
Because Delta 59 originated at John F. Kennedy Airport, American authorities were called in. A team of law enforcement agencies are still trying to piece it together, but right now, CBS station WCBS-TV has learned it is believed the man did not get on in New York, but, in Atlanta.
WCBS also learned in New York City learned investigators think the man could have sneaked on board as long ago as late January at the corporate home of Delta Airlines. The FBI believes there is no terrorist connection.
Still, the incident raises disturbing questions. Security consultant Robert Strang, of the firm, the Investigative Management Group, offered up a few of his own.
"When you take a look at a body, a human body, in an airplane for this length of time, it's kind frightening. How much security was in each one of these airports?" he asked.
What's really upsetting to some, of course, is that this lapse in security comes so soon after an apparent terrorist was subdued by passengers who said he tried to detonate an explosive on board a flight over Detroit during Christmas.
Travelers like Tania Tinnock, of Brooklyn, say it makes you wonder about those in charge:
"We're supposed to feel safer, but it's clear that they haven't really done what they need to do," she said.
"With all the technology that's available, with all the security and the training and the funding that's available, it's hard to believe that this still goes on," said Strang.
Law enforcement officials told CBS 2 that the primary responsibility for giving these planes the once over falls on the airline, not the airport.
Delta said it is cooperating fully with the investigation.
The man is believed to have died from both the subfreezing temperatures as low as -59 degrees and a lack of oxygen.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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