I need this for a book I'm writing, on any aircraft, is there a place or compartment on a plane where?

Question

a small person could sneak on before the Aircraft takes off ? Answers can be hypothetical or exaggerated, I just need some ideas.

Answer 1

Yes. In jumbo jets the wheel well will hold a person. Mind you, they would freeze to death!

Answer 2

In these days of intensified security, it would be tough to get on board an airliner without having a gimmick to, say, impersonate a ground crew worker. In the real world that might prove a good way to get shot, but you did indicate a fictional book. If you want to go with private aircraft, there are areas on non-pressurized aircraft like my Cessna 411 that it could be done if the person wasn't too large. I have baggage compartments in the nose of the aircraft and the nacelles of both engines. I open the left nacelle locker during preflight since I keep some oil and the fuel tester in there, but the nose and right nacelle are seldom checked for other than being correctly closed. I specified non-pressurized since the plane ordinarily doesn't climb high enough to suffocate you. You would be cold, though.

Answer 3

On a 747 just behind the nose gear there is a door into the Avionic bay. This area is wide enough for more than one person to stand in. you can also access the forward baggage compartment from this as well as entering the main cabin. However, It would very difficult to get into the avionics bay without being detected, but it could be done. Also the 747 has enormous wheel wells and a person could get in to them (and have in the past) however it is out side the pressurized part of the aircraft and a person would soon die to lack of oxygen. Useful time of conciseness at 33000ft is less than 30seconds. The person then would freeze due to the - 50ish degrees Celsius temp.

Answer 4

Other than the cabin,most places would not be pressurized or heated.However,on commercial airliners there is at least one belly compartment that is pressurized & heated,you would probably need an accomplice to secure the door behind you though. In a small plane you might be able to squeeze into a baggage compartment, but if the pilot didn't know you were there,he wouldn't have accurate weight & balance data and you would most likely crash on takeoff.

Answer 5

Some people will tell you that a person can hide in the wheel wells of a big airliner. Not true. Airplanes don't have a lot of wasted space, and the wheel wells are crammed with equipment, tubing, wiring, etc. There is just barely enough room for the strut and wheels. Over the years, several people have tried this, and I've only heard of one making it. The rest were crushed by the retracting gear.

Bill
Aircraft Support Engineer, NASA

Answer 6

On the 747 there is an elevator in the galley for flight attendants to go below decks. Anyone could just step into it and press the down button. There is also a trap door to this room hidden under the carpet in first class. This is an emergency exit for this room. This room is a rather large area where the galley supplies (ie. meals) are stored and where the flight attendant take breaks.

In the cockpit there are also bunk beds which are mostly hidden from view.

Answer 7

Sure. In smaller aircraft the baggage areas are all over the aircraft. Kingair uses baggage areas in the front I think. Someone could possibly get in the hold and stay there. The pilot should be checking that area before taking off anyhow but as we all know most dont.

Answer 8

Yeah you can get into all those spaces but getting into the passenger compartment undiscovered is either impossible or highly improbable. The 747 has a hole you can get from an electrical compartment to, oh say, 'business class' if there doesn't happen to be a seat over the hole.

This is why my wife hates for me watch an airplane movie with her.

Answer 9

Baggage Compartments. Avionics bays. Galley Storage areas.

Answer 10

On airliners, there are several places one could fit, but most of them will let a person die in flight. (in the tail or wheel wells) Any place that a person could survive in must be pressurized and heated. That would leave the cargo bays, passenger cabin, including lavatories, and electronic equipment bays.

Answer 11

You could survive in the cargo hold. Some people that take pets with them put them in there, so you could definitely survive, once you figured out how to get in unseen. I was thinking the wheel wells but I heard about a man trying to do that a few years ago. It made the news because he got crushed and when they let down the gear to land, his body parts fell on houses and in people's yards.