A Western Global Airlines MD-11 has been impounded in Harare, Zimbabwe after a dead body and millions of dollars worth of South African Rand were found onboard. The plane had stopped enroute between Germany and South Africa.

Western Global MD-11 via Company Website

The Florida-based cargo operator’s jet had landed in Zimbabwe for refueling. The aircraft had been refused a refueling stop in Mozambique.

A source told the newspaper: ‘Upon refueling, the airport attendant discovered that there was blood dripping from the plane.

‘When they checked to try and ascertain where the blood was coming from that is when they discovered a suspended dead body in the plane.’

Another source revealed to the African News Agency that they were first told by the crew they had ‘hit a bird in the air’.

‘But then a search was made and the body of an adult male fell out,’ the source said.

There’s a narrative though where the cash and the dead body are coincidences, and not the fault of the plane’s crew.

• The money may have been proper cargo for the South Africa Reserve Bank.

• The dead body may have been a stowaway.

  It appears from photos on social media that the dead person had sneaked into the plane’s landing gear which severed his arm when it contracted, causing blood to splatter onto the fuselage and arousing suspicion of the ground crew when the flight landed here.

Nonetheless, the privately-owned Western Global will now have an interesting time dealing with Zimbabwe authorities to get their impounded aircraft back — and their customers’ cargo.

(HT: Paul H.)