A stowaway was found inside the wheel section of a Cargolux freight plane that arrived at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport from Africa on Sunday, Dutch military police said.
The man, who was taken to a hospital, was doing well considering the circumstances, the police, who are responsible for Dutch border control, said in a statement.
Joanna Helmonds, a spokesperson for the Marechausse, said the man’s age and nationality are unknown.
“Our first concern of course was for his health,” she said. “This is definitely very unusual that someone was able to survive the cold at such a height – very, very unusual.”
The stowaway was on a Cargolux Italia flight, confirmed a Cargolux spokesperson.
According to Schiphol’s website and flight tracking data, the only Cargolux freight flight arriving at Schiphol on Sunday was a Boeing 747 freighter leaving Johannesburg and landing in Nairobi, Kenya.