The 16-year-old boy who stowed away in the landing gear of a 767 flying from California to Hawaii may have survived by going into something akin to hibernation, health experts tell
NBC News.
In fact, the frigid life-threatening temperatures he would have had to endure in the wheel well of an airplane at 38,000 feet could have induced such a state.
The runaway from Santa Clara, Calif., is one of just 25 people to survive such a journey since 1947, though more than 100 have tried, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
"It's amazing," said Roger Connor, curator at the National Air and Space Museum. "He's very, very lucky to be alive. Something like that happens only once in a long time."
In fact, Connor said, most people wouldn’t survive more than a few minutes above an altitude of 30,000 feet, where temperatures are probably going to be around -80 degrees Fahrenheit and oxygen levels will be low.
"The cold might work to help slow the body’s processes to prevent death," he told NBC News. "It's somewhat analogous to people who survive after being submerged under icy waters. It's an analog to hibernation."