Body of young Cuban found in Iberia jet's landing gear
Barajas airport police believe man may have been crushed or died from the extreme cold
Workers at Iberia Airlines made a gruesome discovery on Wednesday when they found the body of a man inside a jet's landing gear.
Police identified the victim as Adonis G. B., a 23-year-old Cuban national. The body was found on an Iberia flight that had just arrived from Cuba to Terminal 4 at Madrid's Barajas International Airport. Barajas police took charge of the investigation and ordered an autopsy. According to the Efe news agency, the man had throat and head injuries.
Police believe that Adonis G. B. may have been crushed by the plane's landing gear or died from the low temperatures and pressure during the transatlantic flight. The victim was also found without a shirt. Sources at the forensic institute were unwilling to speculate on the cause of death until the autopsy is performed. Police have contacted their Cuba counterparts.
Airport sources said that the recovery of the body and the subsequent investigation did not affect air traffic at the airport on Wednesday because the body was discovered after passengers had disembarked and the inspection of the plane was being conducted.
Jose María Iscar, secretary of the SEPLA pilots union and in charge of Iberia's Airbus 340 fleet, said the possibilities of surviving a long flight in a plane's landing gear are very slim. "Even the possibility for us detecting someone inside the landing gear is very small because we have no way of determining any unusual movement there," he said.
