bloodrayne
06-08-2005, 04:14 AM
Man's Leg And Torso Fall Out of Plane in New York
Floral Park, New York - The body of an apparent stowaway was ripped in half during flight Tuesday and his leg crashed into a suburban neighborhood, where a homeowner found the severed limb in the middle of her lawn, authorities said.
Pam Hearne heard "a loud crash" and later was stunned to see a foot clad in an Adidas sneaker and a sock in her yard, said Officer Thomas Blanchard. The leg, with hip and spine attached, dented the shingled roof of her garage before bouncing into the lawn.
Police suspect the remains are from a stowaway who may have been crushed as the South African Airways jet lowered its landing gear on its approach to Kennedy Airport.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said the pilot of flight 203 would have probably started lowering the plane's landing gear in the sky over the home in Floral Park, about 5 miles from the airport.
Peters said a Customs agent that met the flight at the airport found another leg hanging from the wheel well.
The airline said in a statement that the flight landed with "no impact" on the passengers and crew and it was working closely with authorities to investigate how someone may have stowed away.
The flight originated in Johannesburg, and made one stop in Senegal. Authorities had not identified the remains, which were hauled away from Hearne's yard in a plastic bag.
Hearne, a special education teacher, said that when she first saw the leg in the grass, "it didn't look real."
"But I am very glad that I live where I do," she said, "so I don't have to run for my life like this man probably was doing."
There have been cases of stowaways being crushed by the mechanism in aircraft wheel wells and perishing from the extreme cold at high altitude.
More Details:
Body Parts Fall From JFK-Bound Plane
New York - A man's leg and partial torso fell from the wheel well of a South African jetliner on landing approach to John F. Kennedy International Airport, hit a garage roof and bounced into the backyard of a Long Island home, authorities said Tuesday.
Homeowner Pam Hearne, of Floral Park, said she heard "a loud crash" a little before 7 a.m. and thought it was her neighbor loading a van with furniture. She told police she left home and did not discover the leg until she returned about 10:30 a.m.
Hearne, a special education teacher, said that when she first saw the leg, probably belonging to a stowaway, in the grass "it didn't look real."
"But I am very glad that I live where I do," she said, "so I don't have to run for my life like this man probably was doing."
Nassau County police sealed off the scene with yellow tape. The man's leg, wearing an Adidas sneaker and a sock, sat in the yard until mid-afternoon, when the Queens medical examiner's office took it away in a plastic bag.
Hearne said there apparently was some kind of jurisdictional dispute over the handling of it.
Other remains were found in the South African Airways Airbus 340 after it landed at Kennedy, said Tony Ciavolella, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which handles the area's airports.
Police suspect the remains were those of a stowaway, Ciavolella said. He would not confirm that the incidents at the airport and Long Island were related, saying they were under investigation.
A customs agent meeting the plane, Flight 203 from Johannesburg and Dakar, Senegal, discovered another leg hanging from the left wheel well, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said.
Floral Park, about 5 1/2 miles from the Queens airport, would be about where a pilot would routinely lower the landing gear, Peters said. The jetliner's landing gear rotates inward as it retracts and outward for landing.
It was unclear how far the leg fell, but the impact dented the shingled roof of the garage.
There have been cases of stowaways being crushed by the mechanism in aircraft wheel wells and perishing from the extreme cold at high altitude.
South African Airways said in a statement it was working closely with airport authorities and police in investigating the apparent stowaway attempt and identifying factors that contributed to it.
The airline said the flight landed with "no impact" on the passengers and crew. It said the aircraft was to remain at the airport for at least a day.
A Floral Park neighbor, Mabel Jeffries, said the incident was not scary because the plane didn't fall.
"That," Jeffries said, "would be scary."
Floral Park, New York - The body of an apparent stowaway was ripped in half during flight Tuesday and his leg crashed into a suburban neighborhood, where a homeowner found the severed limb in the middle of her lawn, authorities said.
Pam Hearne heard "a loud crash" and later was stunned to see a foot clad in an Adidas sneaker and a sock in her yard, said Officer Thomas Blanchard. The leg, with hip and spine attached, dented the shingled roof of her garage before bouncing into the lawn.
Police suspect the remains are from a stowaway who may have been crushed as the South African Airways jet lowered its landing gear on its approach to Kennedy Airport.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said the pilot of flight 203 would have probably started lowering the plane's landing gear in the sky over the home in Floral Park, about 5 miles from the airport.
Peters said a Customs agent that met the flight at the airport found another leg hanging from the wheel well.
The airline said in a statement that the flight landed with "no impact" on the passengers and crew and it was working closely with authorities to investigate how someone may have stowed away.
The flight originated in Johannesburg, and made one stop in Senegal. Authorities had not identified the remains, which were hauled away from Hearne's yard in a plastic bag.
Hearne, a special education teacher, said that when she first saw the leg in the grass, "it didn't look real."
"But I am very glad that I live where I do," she said, "so I don't have to run for my life like this man probably was doing."
There have been cases of stowaways being crushed by the mechanism in aircraft wheel wells and perishing from the extreme cold at high altitude.
More Details:
Body Parts Fall From JFK-Bound Plane
New York - A man's leg and partial torso fell from the wheel well of a South African jetliner on landing approach to John F. Kennedy International Airport, hit a garage roof and bounced into the backyard of a Long Island home, authorities said Tuesday.
Homeowner Pam Hearne, of Floral Park, said she heard "a loud crash" a little before 7 a.m. and thought it was her neighbor loading a van with furniture. She told police she left home and did not discover the leg until she returned about 10:30 a.m.
Hearne, a special education teacher, said that when she first saw the leg, probably belonging to a stowaway, in the grass "it didn't look real."
"But I am very glad that I live where I do," she said, "so I don't have to run for my life like this man probably was doing."
Nassau County police sealed off the scene with yellow tape. The man's leg, wearing an Adidas sneaker and a sock, sat in the yard until mid-afternoon, when the Queens medical examiner's office took it away in a plastic bag.
Hearne said there apparently was some kind of jurisdictional dispute over the handling of it.
Other remains were found in the South African Airways Airbus 340 after it landed at Kennedy, said Tony Ciavolella, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which handles the area's airports.
Police suspect the remains were those of a stowaway, Ciavolella said. He would not confirm that the incidents at the airport and Long Island were related, saying they were under investigation.
A customs agent meeting the plane, Flight 203 from Johannesburg and Dakar, Senegal, discovered another leg hanging from the left wheel well, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said.
Floral Park, about 5 1/2 miles from the Queens airport, would be about where a pilot would routinely lower the landing gear, Peters said. The jetliner's landing gear rotates inward as it retracts and outward for landing.
It was unclear how far the leg fell, but the impact dented the shingled roof of the garage.
There have been cases of stowaways being crushed by the mechanism in aircraft wheel wells and perishing from the extreme cold at high altitude.
South African Airways said in a statement it was working closely with airport authorities and police in investigating the apparent stowaway attempt and identifying factors that contributed to it.
The airline said the flight landed with "no impact" on the passengers and crew. It said the aircraft was to remain at the airport for at least a day.
A Floral Park neighbor, Mabel Jeffries, said the incident was not scary because the plane didn't fall.
"That," Jeffries said, "would be scary."