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Body parts fall from plane; victim was most likely a stowaway, officials say

FLORAL PARK, N.Y. - A man's leg and part of his torso dropped out of the wheel well of a jetliner near Kennedy Airport and plunged into a suburban neighborhood Tuesday, coming to rest in a home's back yard, authorities said.

The falling body parts made for a ghastly discovery for Pam Hearne, who heard "a loud crash" and later was stunned to see a foot clad in an Adidas sneaker and a sock in the middle of her lawn, said Officer Thomas Blanchard. The leg and torso dented the shingled roof of her garage.

Police said they think the remains are from a stowaway who may have been crushed as the South African Airways jet lowered its landing gear.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said the pilot of Flight 203 probably would have started lowering the plane's landing gear in the sky over the home in Floral Park, about 5 miles from the airport.

Peters said a U.S. Customs agent that met the flight at the airport found another leg hanging from the wheel well.

The airline said in a statement that the flight landed with "no impact" on the passengers and crew and that it was working closely with authorities to investigate how someone could have stowed away.

The flight originated in Johannesburg, South Africa, and made one stop in Senegal. Authorities had not identified the remains, which were removed from Hearne's yard in a plastic bag.

Hearne, a special education teacher, said that when she first saw the leg in the grass, "it didn't look real."

"But I am very glad that I live where I do," she said, "so I don't have to run for my life like this man probably was doing."

There have been cases of stowaways being crushed by the mechanism in aircraft wheel wells and perishing from the extreme cold at high altitude.

[Last modified June 8, 2005, 01:08:09]