A tragic incident ended in survival for one and loss for another as they hid inside a plane’s wheel well.
A chilling simulation has brought to light what happened to two men who hid inside the wheel compartment of a plane during an 11-hour journey.
The incident is both heart-wrenching and miraculous.
In 2022, a 22-year-old Kenyan man was discovered alive in the front wheel section of a cargo plane.
He had endured the grueling flight from South Africa to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, a journey that tested every limit of human survival.
“A stowaway was found in the nose wheel of a cargo plane from South Africa at Schiphol. The man is doing well under the circumstances and has been taken to hospital,” Dutch police confirmed in a tweet at the time, sharing details of the extraordinary discovery.
Authorities later announced that they were investigating the possibility of the event being linked to migrant smuggling.
The news sparked widespread concern about the lengths people go to for a better life.
“Our first concern, of course, was for his health,” military police spokeswoman Joanna Helmonds explained during an interview with Reuters.
“This is definitely very unusual that someone was able to survive the cold at such a height – very, very unusual.”
This rare feat of endurance left many in disbelief.
A horrifying simulation has shown what happened Getty Stock Photo
The surviving man applied for asylum after the ordeal, although updates on his case have not been publicly shared.
It remains unclear whether he stayed in the Netherlands following the incident.
Robert van Kapel, a military police spokesperson, spoke to the New York Times about the broader implications of the case, saying:
“We of course see that a lot of people try to enter Europe for a better life. We see it every day, not only in airports but also in ports and highways.”
Investigators believe the man boarded the plane in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, where the aircraft stopped before continuing to Amsterdam.
The Kenyan man was not alone on the journey. A second individual joined him in the wheel compartment, but sadly, that person did not survive the flight.
A YouTube simulation has gone viral, offering a harrowing depiction of what the men likely endured.
Temperatures plummeted to -60 degrees during the ascent, while oxygen levels dropped to life-threatening levels.
Both men reportedly lost consciousness due to these extreme conditions.
Tragically, the man who did not survive fell from the plane mid-flight, losing his life.
The survivor, however, managed to hold on to the iron bars within the wheel well, defying overwhelming odds.
Stories of stowaways surviving such flights are exceedingly rare, as the freezing temperatures and lack of oxygen at high altitudes typically prove fatal.
The fact that this man lived through the ordeal is nothing short of extraordinary.
His survival has captivated many, highlighting both the desperation and resilience of individuals in search of a better future.
Viewers flocked to the comments section of the simulation video posted by Zack D. Films, expressing their amazement and disbelief at the story.
“This guy survived without oxygen, didn’t freeze to death, imagine -60 degrees, then didn’t die from the fall. He should have bought a lottery ticket on that day,” one commenter observed, summing up the miraculous nature of the survival.
