Stowaway Survives 2-Hour Flight

A DC-9 from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, landed at Miami International Airport Monday with 15 passengers, crew, and a stowaway who survived the two-hour flight in a wheel well.

WFOR-TV, the CBS station in Miami, reports that paramedics are amazed that Emilio Dominguez, 23, was in such good condition after his ordeal. The flight reached an altitude of more than 23,000 feet, during which temperatures drop below freezing and oxygen is limited.

Iberia Airlines officials say the man spent the flight in the plane's landing-gear compartment and was discovered by mechanics checking the aircraft. He has been turned over to authorities, who said the airline was to return him to Honduras on the next flight Tuesday.

"When you get that high, there's no oxygen and temperatures reach below zero, so almost everyone dies when they attempt this," said Hernando Vergara, an airport spokesman. "We're surprised he's alive."

The stowaway was wearing only a short-sleeved shirt and pants.

Dominguez, who is Honduran, told immigration officials he had been hiding in the aircraft's back wheel well since Sunday morning.