From Delhi to London: Two brothers hide in plane’s wheel, one dies after 5 days—here’s what happened to other

National News: Travelling without a ticket is common on trains, where people often hide in toilets, on rooftops, or near the engine. But hiding in a plane is far more dangerous and rare. In one shocking case, a 13-year-old boy from Kunduz, Afghanistan, hid in the landing gear of a Kam Air flight from Kabul to Delhi and survived a 94-minute journey fighting for his life. A similar story from 1996 made headlines when two brothers from Punjab, Pradeep and Vijay Saini, hid in a plane’s landing gear to escape danger. During the 10-hour flight in minus 60°C temperatures, Vijay lost his life while Pradeep survived and later shared the terrifying ordeal with the media.

Suspicion of Khalistani connection, compulsion to leave the country

During the campaign against Khalistani terrorists in Punjab, suspects used to be arrested and interrogated for days. Security forces also suspected Pradeep and Vijay Saini of secretly helping Khalistanis. The elder brother Pradeep was 22, the younger Vijay 18. Both had repeatedly said they had no connection with Khalistanis, but questioning of them continued again and again. Distressed, both decided to leave the country. Some people known to them were living in London. They too had to go there, but they neither had passports nor enough money. With the little money they had they contacted a trafficker. The trafficker promised to send them to London hidden in the luggage section.

–60°C temperature, 6,700 km journey, 10-hour flight

Everything was set. One night in October they slipped into Delhi airport and managed to reach the plane of British Airways. According to the British website The Sun, both were pushed into the landing gear near the plane’s tyres. About 6,700 kilometres of journey, 40,000 feet altitude and a 10-hour flight… they had to travel hidden there. At such height the temperature reaches minus 60 degrees. They did not even have woollen clothes. In this dangerous journey from Delhi to Heathrow Airport, elder brother Pradeep Saini survived but unfortunately the younger brother died.

Staggering steps, Saini found in a state of complete confusion

A few hours after the plane landed at Heathrow Airport, airport staff found Pradeep Saini staggering and completely confused. He was taken to hospital where he was treated for severe hypothermia (extreme cold). After good treatment it took him a long time to recover. Pradeep said that had both brothers survived, it would have been different, had both died it would have been different too, but he lost his younger brother. “He was also my friend. We grew up together.” Speaking to Mail on Sunday Pradeep said he remained in depression for six years.

Now Pradeep drives at Heathrow Airport

At first Pradeep Saini was even threatened with deportation. However, after a long legal battle he was allowed to stay in Britain. Pradeep lives in Wembley, North London and works as a driver for a catering company at Heathrow Airport. Later he married and had two sons. Whatever the compulsion to travel hidden in a flight may be, it is completely illegal. And deadly as well – because in most cases there is death. A look at some notable cases:

2015: Flight from Johannesburg to London

A 24-year-old man survived hiding in the landing gear space of an 11-hour flight from Johannesburg to London. Another person on the same plane was found dead on a roof near Heathrow Airport. Experts believed survival was impossible in such low temperature and lack of oxygen. According to Dr. Jack Kreindler, if he survived without oxygen, his genetic make-up should be studied. Some people speculated he may have carried an oxygen cylinder with him, but this was never confirmed.

1969: Flight from Havana to Madrid

In 1969, 22-year-old Armando Socarras Ramirez survived hiding in the wheel well of a Havana–Madrid flight. He said he felt extreme cold, sleepiness and severe pain in his ears. This flight’s altitude was 29,000 feet, lower than the Johannesburg–London flight, so the temperature and oxygen level were a little better. He suffered frostbite but no major damage.

2014: Flight from San Jose to Hawaii

In 2014, 15-year-old Yahya Abdi survived a 5-hour flight of a Boeing 767 from San Jose to Hawaii. The flight’s altitude was 38,000 feet, which was extremely dangerous. According to U.S. aviation expert John Nance, if this is true it is a miracle.

Many more such cases

– In 2000 Fidel Maruhi survived a 4,000-mile journey from Tahiti to Los Angeles.
– In 2002 Victor Alvarez Molina survived a 4-hour flight from Cuba to Montreal, Canada.
– In 2010 a 20-year-old Romanian survived a flight from Vienna to Heathrow, but the flight was at less than 25,000 feet altitude.
– In 2012 the body of Jose Matada was found in a residential area in London, believed to have fallen from a flight coming from Angola. Pradeep’s story too is among those of stowaways – people who have travelled hidden in the wheel well of a plane.