Stowaway dies, another found alive on Johannesburg-London flight

London

A suspected stowaway was dead on the roof of an office in London and another found unconscious on a flight from Johannesburg after the plane landed in Heathrow Airport, British police said today.

The man found alive on Thursday is believed to be hiding in the undercarriage of the British Airways plane at the end of a journey that usually lasts 11 hours.

"His condition is now described as critical," a police statement said.

Police had found the body of the dead man on the roof of an office under the flight path to London Heathrow Airport and were trying to work out if he could have fallen out of the plane.

A police spokesman told AFP that the possibility was "one of the lines of inquiry." 

The police were called about the suspected stowaway on the 12,875-kilometre (8,000-mile) flight from South Africa at 8:28 am (0728 GMT) and about the body at 9:35 am (0835 GMT).

The flight takes 11 hours and outside temperatures during the journey would fall as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius (minus 76 Fahrenheit).

"We are working with the Metropolitan Police and the authorities in Johannesburg to establish the facts surrounding this very rare case," a British Airways spokeswoman said.