"It's a Miracle," FBI Agent Says About a Teen's Survival of a 5-hour Flight—in the Wheel Well of a Jetliner??

Teresa Neumann : Apr 22, 2014
Kurt Streeter and Joe Serna — LA Times

"How he survived, I don't know. It's a miracle." -FBI special agent, Tom Simon

(Honolulu, HI)—A 16-year-old boy from Santa Clara, California, made headlines this week by miraculously surviving in the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines flight from California to Hawaii. (Photo via Google)

Multiple sources reveal the teen somehow lived through temperatures in the compartment, said to be as low as minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit while in flight.

Upon regaining consciousness in Maui, the unnamed juvenile was turned over to a child protection agency and given a medical exam to ensure he was unharmed. (Photo via NBC News)

FBI special agent Tom Simon, assigned to the case, said, "How he survived, I don't know. It's a miracle. I imagine he must have blacked out at about 10,000 feet. The air is pretty thin up there."

A report in the LA Times noted that it may have been heat from the plane's hydraulic lines in the wheel well, in addition to heat retained in the tires, that may have helped the stowaway survive.