Afghan boy’s day out: He flew Kabul to Delhi hiding in a plane, but his destination was someplace else

Stowed away in rear wheel well of aircraft from Kabul, he sat for over 90 minutes, as KAM Air's flight RQ4401 flew at a height of 30,000 to 40,000 feet, in sub-zero temperatures.

A representational image of a KAM flight at IGI airport | ANI

New Delhi: Such was his desire to travel to Iran, that a 13-year-old boy stowed away in the rear wheel well of an aircraft from Kabul, clad only in a white kurta-pyjama, with just a small speaker for company.

Only, the flight did not land in Tehran, but in New Delhi, where he was spotted, lost and confused, wandering around the IGI airport on Sunday morning. “When the passengers were getting off, one of the ground staff saw the boy. The authorities were then alerted,” a source said.

A resident of Kunduz town in Afghanistan, he had sneaked into the runway at the Hamid Karzai airport in Kabul with a group of passengers, and hid in the aircraft’s rear wheel well, which houses the landing gear.

He sat there for over 90 minutes, as KAM Air’s flight RQ4401 flew at a height of 30,000 to 40,000 feet, in sub-zero temperatures, zooming to Delhi at a top speed of 900 kmph. And miraculously, he landed here unscathed.

But by Sunday noon, IGI Airport officials sent him back on another KAM flight, ending his day’s adventure. But before that, he was briefly also questioned by Immigration officials as well as airport security personnel in Delhi.

Survival in the wheel well stowaways is rare and the boy’s survival is miraculous as there are threatening conditions such as lack of oxygen and hypothermia, and of course the hazards of injuries from the landing gear, or worse, falling off.

Moreover there is also the risk of falling off. Commercial aircrafts usually cruise between 30,000 and 40,000 feet with freezing temperatures.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)