An unidentified man was found dead inside the landing gear compartment of an Air Arabia aircraft at London Gatwick Airport, with an inquest now examining how he came to be there and what led to his death.
The man was discovered on June 16, 2026, after the Airbus A320 arrived at Gatwick from Tangier, Morocco. A ground engineer carrying out checks on the aircraft found him inside the wheel compartment and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The circumstances have since raised questions about how anyone could have remained inside the aircraft’s landing gear compartment during the flight.
What happened on the Air Arabia flight?
The aircraft had travelled from Tangier to Gatwick on June 16. After landing, airport personnel began routine checks when the man’s body was discovered in the landing gear area.
The Sun reported that a ground engineer noticed a packing strap hanging from the wheel compartment, prompting further inspection.
Gatwick’s emergency services attended the aircraft shortly after 11:30 a.m. Once the body was found, Sussex Police and the coroner’s office were involved.
The man’s identity has not yet been established.
That leaves a central question unresolved: how did he enter the aircraft and remain in the landing gear compartment for the journey from Morocco to the UK?
Authorities have not publicly established those circumstances.
Inquest reveals the conditions inside the compartment
At the opening of the inquest at Horsham Coroner’s Court, West Sussex, Brighton and Hove Area Coroner Joseph Turner heard evidence about the conditions the man would have faced.
The landing gear compartment is an unpressurised area of an aircraft and can be exposed to extremely cold temperatures and limited oxygen during flight.
A post-mortem examination found cardiac arrest, hypoxia and hypothermia in connection with the man’s death.
Hypoxia refers to an insufficient supply of oxygen to the body’s tissues, while hypothermia occurs when body temperature falls to dangerously low levels.
Coroner Turner said the conditions inside the wheel compartment would have been extremely cold and oxygen levels would have been low. He formally opened the inquest after saying there was reason to believe the death was “unnatural.”
Police investigation remains part of the mystery
The discovery was not treated simply as an unexplained medical death. Sussex Police launched an investigation following the incident, while the coroner’s office began examining the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.
Gatwick Airport said its emergency services responded after an incident was identified when the aircraft arrived. The airport later supported Sussex Police and the coroner’s investigation.
The man’s identity remains unknown, and there has been no confirmed explanation of how he accessed the aircraft or whether anyone else was involved.
Similar incidents have happened before
Deaths involving people hiding in aircraft landing gear compartments are rare but have occurred before.
The Independent reported that in 2022, a man’s body was discovered in the undercarriage of a TUI flight at Gatwick after the aircraft had travelled from Gambia.
There have also been cases in which people attempting to hide aboard aircraft have fallen from planes during flights. One such case involved a body falling from a Heathrow-bound aircraft onto land near the airport.
The latest case has therefore renewed attention on the extreme risks associated with attempting to travel inside an aircraft’s landing gear area.
When will the Gatwick inquest continue?
The opening hearing has been adjourned, with the full inquest scheduled to resume on February 24, 2027.
Until further evidence is presented, several key details remain unanswered, including the man’s identity, how he accessed the Air Arabia aircraft and exactly what happened during the flight.
For now, the confirmed picture is that an unidentified man was found in the landing gear compartment after the aircraft arrived from Tangier, and an inquest has heard that extreme cold, low oxygen and the resulting medical effects were central to his death.
