MYSTERY DEEPENS OVER 2 STOWAWAYS ON BOARD A BA FLIGHT FROM SOUTH AFRICA. WAS IT A BA WORLD CARGO FLIGHT INTO HEATHROW?

Julian Bray Aviation Expert writes: Metropolitan Police in London are continuing investigations into a tragic major international air security breach, after a man was found dead on the roof of a modern office building ironically occupied by Not On The High Street . COM an online retailer, the building backing onto Kew Road, Richmond, west London.




He is thought by some to be a stowaway on an inbound British Airways flight from South Africa, and having been carried some 8,000 miles, possibly- expiring mid flight due to the adverse life support conditions in the external landing gear bay - then fallen, possibly sucked out of the underbody compartment, when the undercarriage door panels (acting as a 'safe' floor for the stowaway) suddenly opened to release the landing gear, prior to landing and arrival at London Heathrow.


The concerns are that if indeed the stowaway was inside the landing gear bay, he would have possibly frozen to death in a flight of some 8,000 miles, especially in the unpressurised section, and then as a 'frozen' corpse fallen onto the Kew building. The 'iced' state of the corpse, would of course frustrate determining a correct time of death.

The remains of a male was found on the roof of an office building occupied by an online retailer, on Kew Road, Richmond, at about 09:35am on Thursday. Officers said initially his death was being treated as unexplained.





Officers were also alerted to a suspected stowaway on a flight from Johannesburg to Heathrow at 08:20 local time. The west London police officers are not confirming if the two incident reports were linked in any way.   The 'second' stowaway found on a British Airways flight was then transferred to a west London hospital where he remains 'unidentified' but in a critical condition.

The survivor is aged between 25 and 30, his identity remains to be established the Met said.
In a statement, British Airways said: "We are working with the Metropolitan Police and the authorities in Johannesburg to establish the facts surrounding this case."
A post-mortem examination has been carried out on the dead man.








As Julian Bray Aviation Expert broadcasting on the BBC5Live Stephen Nolan Show suggested tonight: "With little information being released by the authorities, speculation is growing that the Tambo Airport in South Africa handled a British Airways World Cargo Flight rather than a scheduled passenger flight.
The ground handling agents at Tambo Airport Swissport International, employ over 1,300 at the airport and list the BA Cargo airline as a client.


The services offered by Swissport include:

Airport Ticketing Sales Desk Arrival and Transfer Services Baggage Services Check-in Services Dedicated Passenger Services Gate and Departure Services Lost and Found Services Special Passenger and VIP Services Load Control and Communications Station Control Station Representation and Supervision

Aircraft Loading/Unloading Baggage Sorting GPU Push-back Water & Toilet Services Aircraft Servicing and Cleaning Checkport Crew Bussing Executive Aviation Services Passenger Bussing PAU

This speculation that a BA World Cargo flight was involved would possibly account for the delayed release of the news over social media as passengers would usually be the first to know and possibly tweet or facebook the incldent before police or the airline released details. The BA Cargo aircraft would not use any of the passenger stands either, but taxi at Heathrow directly to the cargo sheds which are well away from the main Heathrow passenger terminals. Also the airport security surrounding air cargo in airports around the world is possibly not as vigilant as it would be around high profile passenger flights.










JULIAN BRAY +44(0)1733 345581, Journalist, Broadcaster, Aviation Security & Operations Expert, Travel / Maritime & Cruise Industry, EQUITY, NUJ, Broadcast COOBE ISDN ++44 (0)1733 345020 (DUAL CODEC) SKYPE: JULIAN.BRAY.UK e&oe Cell: 07944 217476 or iPhone 0743 530 3145 www.aviationcomment.com   # # # VENDOR 10476453 http://feeds.feedburner.com/BraysDuckhouseBlog