LONDON - The frozen body of a stowaway fell from a passenger jet and plunged more than 3,000ft into a small garden - missing a sunbather by just three feet, say witnesses.
A Kenya Airways flight was on its final approach to Heathrow Airport when the suspected migrant fell from a landing gear compartment as the plane lowered its wheels just before 3.40pm on Sunday.
The unidentified man landed in a garden in Clapham, south London, with a loud "whomp" that startled neighbours, and narrowly missed landing on a sunbather.
The stunned tenant called police who linked the discovery with a 4,250-mile flight from Nairobi to Heathrow.
A plane spotter, who was following the flight on an app from Clapham Common, had seen the body fall, and it is thought the stowaway was already dead before falling to the ground.
Neighbours said the sunbather was lucky not to be killed, and the tragic incident could have been much worse as the body could have fallen on packed Clapham Common, just 300 yards away, if it had fallen just two seconds later.
A witness said the body landed very close to a lodger living at the property who was in the garden at the time, leaving him in shock.
The stowaway, who was wearing a blue shirt and denim jeans, landed face down on the lawn.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, said: “It was horrific. We heard a loud bang. I thought it was from the building work we are having done.
“My husband went to look and saw the body lying in the middle of the lawn.
“The man had fallen right next to one of the lodgers who was in the garden at the time.
“I’m just thankful it didn’t hit him. He was in shock.” (FA)