SRINAGAR: A 13-year-old boy from Afghanistan survived a perilous two-hour journey hidden inside the landing gear compartment of a Kabul-Delhi flight before being deported back on the same airline on Sunday evening, according to multiple media reports.
The boy, a native of Kunduz, sneaked into the restricted area of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and managed to conceal himself in the rear wheel bay of KAM Air flight RQ-4401, which landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport around 10:20–11:00 am after a flight of roughly 94 minutes.
Airline staff first noticed the teenager wandering near the aircraft after landing and immediately alerted security. He was apprehended and handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), who questioned him at Terminal 3 along with immigration officials and local police. Sources quoted in The New Indian Express said the boy told authorities he acted out of “curiosity” and mistakenly believed the aircraft was heading for Iran.
The airline later conducted a detailed security sweep of the wheel bay and discovered a small red speaker, apparently carried by the boy. After anti-sabotage checks, the aircraft was declared safe.
Aviation experts described the boy’s survival as “miraculous.” Capt. Mohan Ranganathan, an aviation safety analyst, told TNIE that the wheel bay lacks pressurisation and heating: “If he was inside the enclosed section when the landing gear retracted, he might have been protected from fatal conditions.” Medical experts noted that at altitudes of 30,000 feet, temperatures can plummet to minus 40 to 60 degrees Celsius and oxygen levels fall sharply, with unconsciousness and death likely within minutes. Globally, only about 20 per cent of such stowaways survive.
Authorities confirmed that the boy was repatriated the same day on the return flight of KAM Air, which departed around 12:30 pm and reached Kabul by the evening. “Since he is a minor and entered the country without a visa, he was not penalised. The priority was to return him safely to his family,” an airport security official was quoted as saying.
The incident has triggered serious concerns about security lapses at Kabul airport, with reports suggesting the boy tailed legitimate passengers to bypass checks and entered undetected. Aviation authorities in both India and Afghanistan are expected to review safety and security protocols following the episode.
