He is said to be a Palestinian who smuggled himself onboard the
flight from KL to Singapore
CHANGI Airport had an unexpected passenger arrival on Thursday
night when a Palestinian man dropped out of the wheel well of a
Singapore Airlines jetairliner at Changi Airport.
The man, Osama R M Shublaq, is said to have been a stowaway aboard
SIA Flight SQ 119 that flew in from Kuala Lumpur at around
10:56pm.
He stunned ground crew who were waiting to serve the twin-engine
Boeing 777-200 after he fell out, apparently dizzy from a lack of
oxygen, from the area where the front landing gear is stowed. The
height from the wheel well, where the landing gear strut and two
nose wheels are stowed during flight, to the ground is about 2.4
metres.
The stowaway was taken away by Singapore police.
The SQ airliner had just taxiied to Gate F33 at Changi Airport's
Terminal Two after a 55-minute flight from Kuala Lumpur
International Airport.
Aviation industry sources said they were surprised the man survived
his ordeal.
They said the flight's short duration could have saved him as the
airliner does not have to ascend to the same height as passenger
planes on long haul journeys. Furthermore, as the wheel well is not
pressurised, the lower flight altitude could have helped the stoway
to breathe easier, as compared to an airliner flying in the thin
air of around 35,000 to 40,000 feet -- the cruising altitude for
most passenger jets.
Malaysian airport authorities told The Straits Times that they are
reviewing how the man could have breached airport security and
smuggled himself aboard the plane.
Dato' Azmi Murad, Senior General Manager, Operations, Malaysia
Airports Holdings Berhad, said:"We were told by Singapore Airlines
this morning that there was a stowaway on SQ 119 from Kuala Lumpur
to Singapore. We will assist and cooperate with Singapore
authorities to investigate on how it happened."
