Badly decomposed bodies found in plane’s wheel well
after Jet Blue flight from JFK
Two men were found dead inside a wheel well of a JetBlue plane in Florida after it spent the day
flying to and from New York City in brutal freezing temperatures, the airline said Tuesday.
The decomposed bodies were discovered inside the landing gear compartment during a routine post-flight inspection at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, a JetBlue spokesperson told The Post.
The plane landed there around 11 p.m. Monday from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport — but started the day in Jamaica, where the stowaways are thought to be from, according to the Jamaica Observer.
“A gate technician in the landing gear area noticed two males who appear to be Signal 7, advised they are not moving in the landing gear area,” an unidentified person said on police radio at 11:26 p.m., with Signal 7 police code for a dead person, CNN reported.
JetBlue said it was still investigating “the identities of the individuals and the circumstances surrounding how they accessed the aircraft.”
“This is a heartbreaking situation, and we are committed to working closely with authorities to support their efforts to understand how this occurred,” the airline added.
So far investigators only know that the two dead were men. “Beyond that, their identities at this time are unknown,” said Carey Codd, a spokesperson for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
“Detectives will investigate and research all aspects of this particular incident, trying to figure out where the flight originated from, where else it had been, the circumstances under which the individuals got onto the plane.”
The Airbus A320 had started the day in Kingston, Jamaica, where it took off just after 1 a.m. for an initial flight to JFK, landing just before 5 a.m. Tuesday, when it was still below 30 degrees.
It left JFK for Salt Lake City, Utah just before 7:30 a.m., before returning to the Big Apple just before 7 p.m., FlightAware tracking shows. It then left JFK again just before 7:30 p.m. before arriving in Fort Lauderdale, where the bodies were found.
Both were badly decomposed, a law enforcement source told CNN.
The Transportation Security Administration is investigating the deaths with help from the airline, FAA and local law enforcement.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it is not part of that investigation because “it appears that the incident had no involvement of the flight crew or operation of the airplane.”
With Post wires.
Italian mayor bans locals from getting sick
The mayor of a small town in Italy has issued a symbolic decree banning residents from getting sick, local media has reported. Antonio Torchia, the mayor of Belcastro, said the aim of the decree is to draw attention to the severe lack of healthcare services in the town.
Torchia announced the unusual order on local television, calling it an “an ironic provocation,” according to the newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano.
Torchia explained that the decree was not meant to be taken literally but was intended rather to underscore the dire situation faced by Belcastro’s 1,300 residents.
The initiative arises from the fact the emergency medical service in the town is intermittent and based on the availability of health personnel, noted the news agency ANSA.
The nearest emergency medical facility is located about 45 km away in Catanzaro, the capital of the Calabria region.
The situation has “deleterious effects” on residents, especially considering that elderly people comprise half of the town’s population, added ANSA.
For this reason, the mayor has “ordered” residents “to avoid contracting any disease that requires medical intervention, especially emergency, and to rest as much as possible.”
“It would be impossible to guarantee adequate healthcare,” Torchia said during the announcement.
The mayor claimed that he raised the issue with provincial health authorities last year but has not received a reply. “If there is no news soon,” he said he would go to the Public Prosecutor's Office to file a complaint.
The symbolic decree comes against the backdrop of a broader healthcare crisis in Calabria, where 18 hospitals have closed since 2009.
The region of Calabria, located at the tip of Italy's boot, is one of the least populated and poorest areas in the country. Media reports have claimed that its healthcare system has been undermined by political mismanagement and mafia involvement. The region was placed under special administration by the central government nearly 15 years ago.
Parachutist lands in bonobo enclosure at Ouwehands Zoo
A parachutist accidentally landed in the bonobo enclosure at Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen on Saturday afternoon. No injuries were reported.
Bonobos are a type of chimpanzees.
The parachutist was supposed to land on the center circle of a nearby football field, where a new artificial turf was being inaugurated. However, due to unknown circumstances, the man veered off course and landed inside the bonobo habitat.
Zoo director Robin de Lange said the parachutist was fortunate that the bonobos were indoors at the time of the incident. "He’s extremely lucky—100 meters further, and he could have landed in the elephant or lion enclosure," De Lange told NOS.
The zoo plans to meet with the football club to prevent similar incidents in the future. "It was a real scare," said De Lange. "This must never happen again."
The cause of the mishap is under investigation. Both the parachutist and zoo staff confirmed that no animals or people were harmed during the landing.
