A man who was refused an air ticket to Australia from Los Angeles International Airport reportedly stripped naked before running across the tarmac to climb on board a moving jumbo jet.
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, the 31-year-old was refused a ticket with Qantas because he did not have a valid credit card.
He then reportedly clambered over a security fence topped with barbed wire and ran “naked, full-speed” towards the Qantas jet before climbing into the wheel well.
Pilots then stopped the jet before the man was persuaded to get out of the wheel well and was arrested for trespassing.
An airport spokeswoman is quoted as saying: “This was an extremely dangerous thing to do. If he had continued to cling in there with the aircraft taking off at over 320kmh, he might have fallen out and could have been sucked up by the engine.
“If he had survived that and was in the wheel well when the landing gear was retracted, he could have been crushed by the mechanism. And, if not, he very likely would have frozen to death during the 15-and-a-half flight at 9,150 metres while wearing no clothes.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd
