Stowaway Endures Over 2-Hour Flight Inside Plane Landing Gear

Federal authorities have taken into custody a 26-year-old man who apparently stowed away in the landing gear compartment of an American Airlines fight that arrived at Miami International Airport from Guatemala on Saturday morning, per the AP. The man was in the wheel well area when the flight arrived from Guatemala City, Guatemala, officials said. NBC Miami reported the man hitched a ride inside landing gear of American Airlines Flight 1182, which was met by law enforcement due to "a security issue." Video posted by Only in Dade showed the apparently unharmed man being looked over by medical personnel on the tarmac.

US Customs and Border Protection officers took the man into custody, the agency said in a news release. Medics took the man to a hospital for a medical assessment. “Persons are taking extreme risks when they try to conceal themselves in confined spaces such as an aircraft," the agency said. The news release didn't say whether the man will face any charges, or what will happen to him when he's released from the hospital. While he appeared to have weathered the trip, by NBC Miami's estimates it wouldn't have been easy. Temperatures in the landing gear area likely dropped around 100 degrees during the flight, meaning the man endured conditions well below zero for much of the nearly 3-hour journey.