Stowaway Survives Flight from Ethiopia to Washington in Cargo Hold; Does Not Collect Frequent Flyer Miles
Jun 11th, 2009 | By Jared BlankAn Ethiopian man attempting to get to the United States survived an unthinkable journey in the cargo hold of an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Washington, DC earlier this week. Upon arrival at Dulles, ramp workers unloading luggage saw an arm sticking out of some cargo, and discovered the passenger, who is now in a detention center waiting return to Ethiopia (though I kinda feel like if you put yourself through that to get here you should be able to stay).
Most incredibly, the guy survived the flight’s stopover in Rome which, as far as I can tell, means that he spent about 24 hours holed up in the plane. Insane.
Let the guy stay!!
Given that the cargo holds of most aircraft appear to be heated and pressurized these days, why is it so surprising that he survived? Animals in their pet carriers survive, too, most of the time :)
Now if he’d been hiding in the wheel well, things would be different.