Two stowaways who hid in a New York-bound aircraft’s landing gear fell to their death just moments after take off.
The pair fell onto the runway at Guayaquil in Ecuador from the Latam Airlines Boeing 767. One man died instantly while a second died a few minutes later.
The runway was shut down for 90 minutes while authorities removed the bodies. The jet had originated in Peru and was allowed to continue its flight to New York JFK.
Police did not reveal the identities or their nationalities but said they probably fainted or were ejected when the aircraft wheels were lifted. The Latam plane may be required to come back to Jose Joaquin de Olmedo International Airport to assist in the investigation, prosecutor Germn Bustamante said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said there were 113 stowaway attempts on flights departing or arriving in the US between 1947 and 2015. Of those, just 27 people survived, the agency said.
