Johannesburg Man Clinging to British Airways Plane Plunges to Death in London

He, along with another man, had travelled from South Africa, hiding in the undercarriage of the plane.

A Johannesburg man, who reportedly clung to the bottom of a British Airways plane, died after falling on a shop in London on Thursday, 18 June.

The South African man had travelled illegally from South Africa on the plane. He was reportedly accompanied by another man, who is recuperating in a hospital now.

According to CNN, the deceased and another man had travelled from Johannesburg to London, hiding in the undercarriage of the plane.

"We are working with the Metropolitan Police and the authorities in Johannesburg to establish the facts surrounding this very rare case," British Airways said.

The South African stowaway fell on a shop in Richmond, southwest London, which lies on the flight path.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman told The Guardian: "We were called at 9.35am on Thursday 18 June to Kew Road, Richmond, to reports of a body discovered."

While such incidents are rare, this is certainly not the first time that a stowaway has fallen to his death on a street near London's Heathrow Airport. There have been several instances where immigrants have tried to hide in the landing gear.

In one such incident, a 26-year-old man from Mozambique travelled from Angola, hiding in the undercarriage, but plunged to his death near Mortlake. Investigators later found that the stowaway had braved freezing temperatures of up to -60 degrees C for over 12 hours.

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