The body of a man was found in the landing gear that landed at Gatwick Airport, London, coming from Morocco.
Emergency services were called after the body was spotted at the bottom (landing subsystem) of Air Arabia aircraft, which arrived from Tangier about 11:45 a.m. (Britain time) on Tuesday, according to his information BBC.
A spokesman for Western Sussex Airport confirmed the incident, adding that airport teams support police and coroner in their investigations.
Body found in landing gear of plane at Gatwick https://t.co/DCL89yNHnC— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) June 18, 2026
Sussex Police announced that an investigation was initiated to identify the circumstances of the incident, and a comment was also requested from Air Arabia.
Airport representative said:
"A body was found and our teams then supported Sussex Police and the coroner. Our thoughts are with all those affected.".
A similar incident had occurred in Gatwick in December 2022, when the body of a man was found in the TUI aircraft landing system that had traveled from Banzul, the capital of Gambia.
The 4.444 km journey from Gambia to the United Kingdom usually lasts about six and a half hours by direct flight. A representative of the Gambia government had then reported that he was an unidentified black man.
Other similar cases have been recorded in the United Kingdom. Among these is the case of 21-year-old Mohammed Ayaz from Pakistan, whose body was found in 2001 in the DIY species shop parking lot near Heathrow Airport.
Four years earlier, another stowaway fell from an aircraft bound for Heathrow on gas installations located near the airport.