Foul smell leads to discovery of body in aircraft wheel compartment at KLIA2
The body, whose gender has yet to be determined, was discovered at about 6.55am inside the wheel compartment of an aircraft from Tokyo, Japan, which landed at about 6.30am — AFP pic
Summary
- An unidentified body was discovered in the wheel compartment of an aircraft from Tokyo at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2.
- The body, found by engineering staff, was wearing jeans and a white shirt, but no identification was present.
- Royal Malaysia Police is investigating the victim's identity and cause of death, believed to be a person in their 20s dead for over 72 hours.
By Malay Mail
First Published: Thursday, 27 Aug 2026 2:04 PM MYT
Last Modified: Thursday, 27 Aug 2026 2:10 PM MYT
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — An unidentified body was found inside the wheel compartment of an aircraft at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) today.
The body, whose gender has yet to be determined, was discovered at about 6.55am inside the wheel compartment of an aircraft from Tokyo, Japan, which landed at about 6.30am, according to a Berita Harian report.
The body, believed to be wearing jeans and a white shirt, was found by engineering staff assigned to open the aircraft’s wheel compartment.
Based on information received, the staff detected a suspicious foul smell coming from the compartment before opening it and discovering the body, after which they informed the KLIA2 police station operations room.
The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) Forensics Unit was subsequently called to the scene to conduct further investigations.
Preliminary investigations found that the victim was believed to be in their 20s and had likely been dead for more than 72 hours.
However, no identification documents were found on the body.
Further investigations are underway to establish the victim’s identity and cause of death.
Foul smell....dead more than 72 hours....so he hadn't just climbed into the landing gear bay in the last flight like other stowaway cases.
ReplyDeleteHow did he get there...why did routine pre flight checks miss it... wheel compartments are open to the outside.....
Seems like more example of MAS as a box-ticking environment where many staff just go through the motions instead of the true performance requirements.
Very dangerous in aviation where lives are at stake..
I remember the incident in Australia where the MAS plane took off with the pilot tube covers still attached...nearly causing a tragic crash..Those pitot tube covers have bright orange streamers attached to ensure they don't get overlooked.