On Sunday, a 13 year old Afghan boy managed to stow away on a flight out of Kabul in the wheel well of a KAM Air flight to Delhi.
The boy hid inside the Airbus A340-300 widebody operating flight 4401 for the duration of the 622 mile journey.
The teen was from Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan, about 150 miles north of Kabul. He reportedly snuck into the Kabul airport, bypassing security by tailing ticketed passengers, and stowed away in the rear central landing gear. He carried with him a small red speaker that was later found inside the landing gear compartment.
Upon landing in Delhi, ground staff saw him roaming near the aircraft and apprehended him, turning him over to inistry of Home Affairs police for questioning at Terminal 3.
Authorities reported that he said he did it “out of curiosity,” not fully understanding the risks. That may be the official line. It also helps with the narrative of returning him immediately back to Delhi. In my own view if a child makes it out of Afghanistan you don’t force them to return.
According to security officials,
The boy was questioned for several hours before being sent back to Kabul via another flight at around 4 pm on the same day. He said he managed to sneak inside the airport and the landing gear, without being detected.
The aircraft was inspected, with safety checks for potential sabotage, and cleared for the return trip back to Kabul.
The boy was questioned for several hours, and returned to Afghanistan on the single daily KAM Air flight the same day. Normally the aircraft is on the ground for just 90 minutes, but it took a nearly 3 hour delay – for security checks, and perhaps while sorting out repatriation of the boy.
Clearly, it would be worse for him on the ground in Kunduz if he were a girl. Girls are banned from going beyond primary school with their education. They are required to adhere to strict dress codes and have a male guardian for travel, and are prohibited from singing. Women have been publicly flogged for violating rules like appearing in public without male guardian, interacting with non-mahram men, or alleged moral offences.
The Taliban bans wifi in several provinces to ‘prevent immorality’ covering homes, public institutions, and businesses. That alone limits the ability to learn and build opportunities beyond Afghanistan. And this kid got out!
Stowaways often don’t make it, but one managed to survive flying Guatemala City to Miami on American, and another was found hidden inside a landing gear on arrival in Paris.
Here’s the incredible story of a man who stowed away in the wheel well of a 5100 mile British Airways flight and barely survived (his companion did not make it) and one of a man who shipped himself from Australia to Los Angeles in a box.
Meanwhile, a United Express baggage handler got trapped in the cargo hold of a regional jet and flew to Washington DC while a drunk baggage handler fell asleep inside the cargo hold of an American Airlines plane and flew to Chicago but those environments are (somewhat) safer.
Do not try this at home, the odds of success are low – and while it’s likely we won’t learn more about this boy’s story I’m reminded that desperate people looking to improve their lives will go to tremendous lengths.
Thanks for the reminder not to fly to Afghanistan (or to stowaway in the wheel well), Gary…
I don’t get this. If he’s in the wheel we’ll, isn’t he exposed to temperatures and lack of oxygen that would kill him (assuming the didn’t fly the entire flight at 10,000 feet or so).
It kinda sucks to send the kid (or anyone) back to Afghanistan, but if not — what are his options in Delhi? I assume there is no family there. Put him in an orphanage? And based on the reports, the kid wasn’t “fleeing” Afghanistan, he was curious. Assuming the parents want him back, how does the Delhi *not* return him home?
that kid wins show and tell at his school.
@Thing 1 — Eh, don’t worry, aren’t some of the crazies talking about yet another ‘rapture’ tomorrow anyway? Yeah, just like 2012, or the millions of other false prophets before… psh.
@Tim Dunn — What school? *sigh*
Lack of oxygen only becomes a severe problem much higher than 10,000 feet. La Paz, Bolivia is at almost 12,000 feet with some of it above 12,000 feet. Kabul is at almost 6,000 feet so some altitude acclimatization has taken place and it was possible that the boy came from an even higher place. Even above 20,000 feet the lower amount of oxygen doesn’t kill, at least for the vast majority of people. Some will get life threatening altitude sickness and have to go to a lower altitude but that doesn’t have to happen immediately and often cannot happen immediately. Even severe cases where a helicopter is used, it will often take an hour or more to get to lower altitude. Experienced mountaineers have summitted 29,000+ feet Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. Personally I have skied above 12,000 feet and did not get altitude sickness.
Good for you, @jns. You do you. Enjoy the ‘flight.’ Now, for the rest of us, again, please don’t stowaway in the wheel wells of aircraft.
My heart breaks for that kid. I agree, if he made it out he shouldn’t have been sent back. Adding him and all the females to my prayers…
@Robin Rosner — Well said. 100%.
India is better than us at deporting people. Why can’t we deport the illegals as soon as they arrive?
@Hal — Next time you commit any crime, remember to call yourself ‘illegal.’ For instance, do you drive? You’d better never go even 1 mph over the speed limit… lest you become… ‘an illegal.’
Safe to presume this stowaway did not have the proper documentation to enter India. If you or I tried the same, we wouldn’t be able to board a flight to DEL. Yes, even American passport holders need a visa to visit India for holiday.
@Hal – because we are a country of rules and laws. We have processes that have been put in place. Just because you don’t like them or the people impacted by them doesn’t mean we ignore them. I get that’s what our current administration thinks we can do, but they really have no respect for the rule of law so not sure I trust their judgement.
“In my own view if a child makes it out of Afghanistan you don’t force them to return.”
And who in India is going to take care of him until he is an adult? Perhaps you should adopt him since you think it’s such a grandiose idea. I know you won’t, so stop with the nonsense.
@Hal, everyone wanting a rational discussion of this issue knows that you use “illegals” to mean individuals in this country without a legal right to be here.
I’m with you. If the kid had the brains, guts, and toughness to make it out then he would be an asset to any country that would take him.
@This comes to mind — Then use the term ‘undocumented,’ like Gary did. Or, expect me to mock you. Keep in mind, that’s still ‘free speech,’ yours to be a bigot and perpetuate harmful stereotypes, and mine to make satire of your hate. By the way, ya ever received more than a de minimus amount of income, say, find a $20 bill on the ground, but fail to report it as income… you, too, may be ‘an illegal.’ See, isn’t it good fun? Now, let’s actually consider legitimate and comprehensive immigration reform, then we can tall for real. Until then, we’re all just jokesters.
It says the kid bypassed security at Kabul. Who knew they had security there?
As an aside, we’ll know that China is officially a global superpower when they temporarily occupy Afghanistan, re-attempt ‘nation-building’ (even though local leaders just want to do opium and abuse their women), like the USA, the Soviets, and the British before. Then again, maybe they’ll pull off what no one before them could… that’d be wild. Belt and road… through the poppies.
New Delhi has a substantial Afghan community, although most of it is Pashtun rather than Uzbek, Tajik, Turkmen, etc. They have a history of taking in solo teenagers to raise as part of their family or employ.
There is at least one Afghan school in Delhi, and last I heard it was so in demand that they had to run a day session for half the students and an evening session for the other half of the students in order to maximize how many students they could handle.
The people on this board that love to mock the US for being this cruel, bigoted country should realize that most people live in conditions and situations we have no idea. Can you imagine risking death to this degree to escape where you live? Then sent back. Chances are he has no family, or more precisely a family that could care for him and he ended up on the streets.
@GU Wonder Appreciate your efforts to shed light on Afghan community in India. Most others commenting perhaps do not know about historical and cultural ties between Afghanistan and India.
Remember “Kabuliwala”, chaman ke augur, kabuli channa among others?
@George N Romey — Bud, I’ll mock any and all countries or peoples who are cruel, us and them.
“Then use the term ‘undocumented,’ like Gary did. Or, expect me to mock you. Keep in mind, that’s still ‘free speech,’ yours to be a bigot and perpetuate harmful stereotypes, and mine to make satire of your hate.” If you spent the time to comprehend a post, maybe you’d get it right. I said:
“@Hal, everyone wanting a rational discussion of this issue knows that you use ‘illegals’ to mean individuals in this country without a legal right to be here.” Did I call anyone “illegal”? No. I said I knew what he meant. And, implicitly, I suggested he ignore your post on that because it was silly and only meant to provoke, not debate. You’ve admitted to that strategy before.