Jeik Aniluz Lusi,Elvis Borques Castillo Obituary, Death; – Two stowaways who were found deceased in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue aircraft earlier this year have been identified as teenagers, according to various reports.
The bodies were discovered on January 6 during a routine maintenance check following flight 1801, which took off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport at 7:49 p.m. and landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport shortly after 11 p.m.
As reported by NBC News, the plane had also made a stop in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, on January 5. The deceased individuals, Jeik Aniluz Lusi, 18, and Elvis Borques Castillo, 16, both hailing from the Dominican Republic, were identified through what Broward County Sheriff’s officials described as “extensive DNA testing.”
Currently, there is no information on how the two managed to bypass security and access the aircraft’s landing gear, which aviation expert John Gagliano informed CBS News is one of the most perilous areas on a plane for anyone attempting to stow away.
“It’s extremely loud, very cold, and there is no breathable air,” he stated. “Thus, it is an exceedingly dangerous endeavor.” JetBlue referred to the security breach as a “heartbreaking situation,” and expressed its commitment to collaborating with investigators to determine how this incident occurred.
The discovery of the two teenagers occurred just a week after a body was found in the wheel well of a United Airlines flight en route from Chicago to Maui. In a statement, airline officials noted that the area where the body was located could only be accessed from outside the aircraft, and it remains unclear how the individual ended up there.
