Aircraft employees find two bodies in JetBlue plane wheel well

Aircraft employees discovered the two bodies Monday night at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, according to JetBlue’s statement to WORLD. The remains were found in the aircraft’s landing gear compartment during a routine post-flight inspection, the company added. Paramedics pronounced the individuals dead at the scene, prompting homicide and crime scene units to launch the ongoing investigation, Broward Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Claudinne Caro told WORLD.

Have they identified the bodies or determined how they died? Authorities have not identified the deceased, but they have determined they were both males, Broward County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Carey Codd said during a Tuesday news conference. The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform autopsies to determine how the individuals died, Caro said. The aircraft initially took off from Kingston, Jamaica, on Monday and stopped in New York City and Salt Lake City, before returning to New York City and finally landing in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday night, according to reporting by CNN.

The discovery marked the second time within the last month that authorities have found a body in an airplane wheel well. A United Airlines flight crew also discovered a body in the landing gear of a plane after touching down in Maui on Christmas Eve. United Airlines was unable to give WORLD any updates on the discovery. WORLD reached out to the Maui Police Department for a statement and did not receive an immediate response.