How a 13-year-old Afghan boy pulled off daring escape by hiding in Delhi-bound plane

In a shocking and dangerous act, a 13-year-old boy from Afghanistan secretly boarded a flight to India on Sunday (September 21), by hiding in the rear wheel well of an aircraft. Despite the life-threatening risks, the boy survived the 94-minute flight and landed safely at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. The flight, operated by Afghanistan’s KAM Air, departed from Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport at 8:46am IST and reached Delhi’s Terminal 3 at 10:20am.

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According to reports, the boy, dressed in traditional Afghan clothing, had intended to sneak into Iran but mistakenly boarded the wrong flight. He managed to tailgate passengers at the Kabul airport and evade detection before hiding in the aircraft’s wheel well. The boy's presence aboard the flight remained undetected until after landing when a ground handler spotted him walking in a restricted area on the airport apron.

Authorities were quickly notified, and the boy was detained by the Central Industrial Security Force before being handed over to airport police. Given his age, the boy faces no legal repercussions. Aviation experts expressed shock at his survival, as stowing away in the wheel well is almost always fatal due to extreme cold, lack of oxygen, and mechanical dangers. Survival rates for such stowaway attempts are exceedingly low, with only about 20% surviving worldwide.

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This rare incident is only the second known case of a stowaway successfully surviving a journey into India. The first happened in 1996, when two brothers, Pradeep and Vijay Saini, attempted the same feat on a British Airways flight from Delhi to London. While Pradeep survived, Vijay was found dead upon arrival at Heathrow.