Pilot finds sleeping stowaway

2011-01-18 22:37

Janice Keogh, Beeld

Johannesburg - Lanseria Airport is investigating an incident during which a teenager gained access to the airport property and fell asleep in a private aircraft.

The owner of the C172 plane, which costs about R2m new, wrote on a forum for aviation enthusiasts about finding the boy asleep in his plane on Saturday morning.

The owner, only known as "Whiskeyflyer", says he became suspicious when all the doors were locked from the inside.

He climbed into the cargo hold and discovered the boy where he lay curled up in the front of the aircraft. The boy wasn't visible from outside.

The pilot called for security guards and the police.

The teenager had a bag full of clean clothes, toiletries and a screw driver with him and told the police he had slept there from 20:00 the previous night.

Police spokesperson Vish Naidoo said on Tuesday night no complaints were made against the boy.

"He was very confused and at first said he comes from Diepsloot, then later from Krugersdorp.

"The police took him to a place of safety and are trying to find his parents or family."

Johan Opperman, spokesperson for the airport, said the incident is being investigated.

Spokespeople for airlines such as ExecuJet and Kulula who have aircraft at Lanseria said they're not worried by the fact that someone gained illegal access to a plane, and that this had been "an isolated incident".