After nearly three months, authorities have identified two teens whose bodies were found in the landing gear area of a JetBlue aircraft at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Jeik Aniluz Lusi, 18, and Elvis Borques Castillo, 16, were discovered during a routine post-flight maintenance inspection in January, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
Extensive DNA testing was used to confirm their identities, the sheriff’s office said.
The nationalities of the two stowaways haven’t been released since their bodies were found on Jan. 6.
On Jan. 9, Kamina Johnson Smith, Jamaica’s minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, said on social media that the deceased were likely not Jamaican nationals, as it was initially reported by some outlets on the island.
“Further information received, now indicates that the individuals are not Jamaican. We still, however, await formal reports as investigations continue,” she wrote on her X account.
Flight data showed the aircraft had a busy schedule, flying Sunday from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, to New York’s JFK Airport. It then flew routes between Jamaica, New York, and Salt Lake City, Utah, before ending in South Florida.
The stowaways’ ability to hide in the JetBlue landing gear area was immediately considered a major security breach.
A deadly history of stowaways
The discovery of the two bodies reignited concerns about aviation security and the grim risks of such attempts. Instances of stowaways hiding in aircraft wheel wells have been documented for decades.
Mary Schiavo, former inspector general of the Department of Transportation, revealed that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has tracked 128 cases worldwide from 1947 to 2020. Over 75% of those attempts ended in death due to the extreme dangers of the wheel well, including hypothermia, oxygen deprivation, and the risk of being crushed by landing gear mechanisms.
“The most likely country for wheel-well stowaways used to be Cuba, often due to immigration or family reunification efforts,” Schiavo said. “But the dangers are profound. Survivors may suffer long-term physical damage from the noise, lack of oxygen, or freezing temperatures.”
Schiavo emphasized the severe security implications of such breaches, particularly given the extensive surveillance and background checks required for anyone working on airport tarmacs.
“The fact that this keeps happening is a serious aviation security violation,” she said.
Recent incidents highlight risks
The JetBlue incident mirrors a similar tragedy over the December 2024 holidays when a stowaway’s body was found in the wheel well of a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Maui.
At cruising altitudes of around 38,000 feet, wheel wells are unpressurized and unheated, with temperatures dropping well below freezing. Survival is rare, and fatalities are often caused by hypothermia or asphyxiation.
Dangers of hiding in the landing gear
Following the discovery of the two bodies found in January on the JetBlue flight, an aviation attorney and pilot said hiding in an airplane’s undercarriage is one of the deadliest places a person can attempt to stow away.
“It’s very, very loud,” John Gagliano said. “It’s very cold, and there’s no air to breathe. So, it’s a very dangerous stunt to pull.”
Other stowaway cases
The grim discovery shocked passengers. However, stowaways in landing gear compartments are not unheard of. In 2021, authorities in Miami found a man who survived a flight from Guatemala by hiding in a wheel well.
“If someone is really determined to overcome security and they have the knowledge or someone helping them, it’s certainly possible,” Gagliano said. He emphasized that the landing gear area is treacherous for stowaways. There is no insulation from the deafening engine and wind noise, little oxygen at high altitudes, and plummeting temperatures.
“At 30,000 feet, temperatures can drop 90 degrees colder than on the ground,” Gagliano explained. “If it’s 50 degrees on the ground, it’s -42 degrees at cruising altitude. You’re going to freeze to death at -42 degrees if you’re there for any amount of time.”
