is this possible

[navigator72]

Boy survives two-hour flight to Moscow hanging onto plane wing

20:56 | 24/ 09/ 2007

MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - A 15-year-old boy from the Urals suffered acute frostbite after riding the wing of a Boeing-737 plane on a two-hour flight from Perm to Moscow, Russian radio station Mayak reported on Monday.

After clinging on for the entire 1300-kilometer (808-mile) flight to Vnukova Airport, the boy, named Andrei, collapsed onto the tarmac. His arms and legs were so severely frozen that rescuers were at first unable to remove his coat and shoes, the radio station said.

The airport did not confirm the report. "We have no information on this," the Vnukovo press service told RIA Novosti.

However, Moscow's air and water transport control department said the radio's claim was true. A department spokesman said the incident occurred on Friday, and that the boy's parents were immediately informed, and flew to the capital the same day.

Doctors said it was nothing short of a miracle that Andrei survived the flight, with temperatures hitting minus 50 degrees Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit), the radio station said. The Boeing-737 has a cruising speed of 900 kmh (560 mph).

The boy reportedly made the journey after a commonplace domestic dispute. Angry with his father, who reportedly has a drinking problem, and with his mother for siding with her husband in family rows, Andrei ran away to the neighboring village, where his grandmother lives. On reaching the village, he decided to go on, and hitched a 220-km (137-mile) ride to the regional center, Perm, where he was dropped off at the airport.

It remains unclear how Andrei was able to climb on a plane wing un-noticed, and the Perm Airport security service is being asked some serious questions, the radio station said.

Andrei is now being treated in a Moscow hospital, Radio Mayak said.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070924/80694850.html

 

[Swass]

Gotta call BS on this one.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

LOL.


I think its April Fools over there.

 

[southernpilot]

No, this is not possible.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Aside from the extreme negative temperatures, it would be IMPOSSBLE to breathe at those flight levels. The oxygen just doesn't exist.

The story seems to make a big deal out of his frostbite and the subsequent gangrene which will necessitate amputation. I think this makes the story sound more real, but totally doesn't take into account the fact that there is insufficient oxygen in the flight levels.

 

[mayday1]

not to mention how you "hold on" to a wing with sustained wind speeds greater than a hurricane.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

not to mention how you "hold on" to a wing with sustained wind speeds greater than a hurricane.

The funny thing is, there are several news articles reporting this story. No doubt "telephone" in a sense. But the other articles indicate that he may have been in the wheel well or inside the wing - not hanging off the sweep.

Clearly, we all know this isn't possible to survive, but I think they try to distract the reader by making it seem like the only penalty for such a brazen move would be to lose your hands to gangrene from the cold.

 

[Publishers]

I think we can assume he was in the wheel well which is a pretty easy feat to accomplish. While we make the assumption that he could not survive, we are also making that assumption by making some of our own. Remember they said he was on the wing. Well the same level of accuracy can be assumed for the rest. 2 hour flight, maybe not, and, above 15k, maybe and maybe not. Maybe it was a 40 minute flight with the highest it went being FL180. Then it might become more feasible. The bottom line. THIS IS RUSSIA -- anything is possible except getting paid on time.

 

[navigator72]

I had lunch with a mad Russian the other day. They are all mad