Posted on 12/11/2010 7:13:58 AM PST by outpostinmass2
A month after the mangled body of a North Carolina teenager was found in a quiet Milton neighborhood, Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating said yesterday that evidence indicates he stowed away in the wheel well of a plane and fell from the sky as the landing gear came down on the approach to Logan International Airport.
A shirt stained with what appeared to be grease used in airplanes and believed to be Delvonte Tisdale’s was recovered yesterday, along with sneakers, scattered along the flight path, Keating said. The items were found about a half-mile from where the 16-year-old’s body was discovered on Brierbrook Street on the night of Nov. 15, authorities said.
Fingerprints and a handprint were also discovered in the left wheel well of a Boeing 737 commercial airliner that left Charlotte Douglas International Airport at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 and landed at Logan about two hours later, Keating said. Investigators are still awaiting test results to confirm that the prints are Tisdale’s, but Keating said it appears likely that they are.
The conclusion that the teenager’s death was not believed to be a homicide, as initially thought, quickly shifted the focus of the investigation to the Charlotte airport and the Transportation Security Administration.
“It appears more likely than not that Mr. Tisdale was able to breach airport security and hide in the wheel well of a commercial jet airliner without being detected by airport security,’’ Keating said during a press conference, calling it a major breach of airport security.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Tragic. But that's why they warn you to have your seat backs in the upright position on landing.
“Delvonte Tisdale was often seen in dress uniform or wearing ROTC sweatshirts. In a paper for a class, he wrote that he wanted to be “a high-ranking Marine officer.’’ The teenager spent up to 12 hours a week taking classes on the history of the Air Force and the science of flight and participating in ROTC activities, such as marching and volunteer work.”
Doesn’t sound like a democrat supporter to me. He was also too young (17) to vote.
16 year olds can vote?
What a ridiculous, racist comment to a tragic death. The kid was 16 yrs old. I doubt he voted for anybody...............
I’m a leaving on a jet plane ~
probably died from hypoxia and freezing temps enroute...they open the doors.... and out drops Mr. Tisdale
The unfortunate consequences of watching “Jackass” on a regular basis...
He was dead long before he fell.
Had to be.
However, here's the scariest part of the whole article:
In February of this year, a frozen body was found in the wheel well on a flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York when it landed at Narita International Airport in Japan, but it was later discovered that he did not actually stow away on the plane in New York. In fact, his body had been undetected in the wheel well since he stowed away Dec. 12, 2009, during a flight from Lagos, Nigeria, to New York.
What the heck went on here? As a former crew chief, I guarantee you I wouldn't be nissing a body in the wheel well of my jet one time, much less for a couple of months.
science of flight.....
That’s interesting....
May be some strange motivation behind this one like wanting to experience flight from the outside of the plane or something.
He doesn’t sound like a hobo or something, but a decent kid.
He was 16 years old, jackass.
See post 4.
Sounded like a great kid......why the heck he would do this is strange...
gutwrenching story at that link...I guess the only good thing we can see in this story is that he didn’t fall onto someone else...certainly could have been fatal to someone on the ground..
Why stow away in a wheel well? No windows, no life support systems, no sound proofing, and gear operated by a hydraulic system designed to put that gear in the well despite a human stowaway. I don’t even know if there is room in there for a human. I would seriously doubt it as extra space means weight and planes are built for the least weight possible. If he wasn’t crushed by the gear, the hypoxia would have done the job.
Dumb move by the kid, but the really scary part is that he was able to breech security. He could just as well been a terrorist attaching a bomb to the plane’s wheel well. Meanwhile the TSA is making little old ladies and kids go through their nudie scanners just to keep us safe.
I think the authorities should mandate seatbelts in the wheel wells of all commercial aircraft. This tragedy could have been prevented, and if even a single life is saved ....
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