A dead body was found on the wheel of a United Airlines plane after it landed at Maui’s airport in Hawaii on Christmas Eve.
UA flight 202 took off from Chicago at 9.50am Tuesday and arrived in Maui at 2pm local time.
The body was found on a wheel well of the Boeing 787-10, an area only accessible from outside of the aircraft.
‘Upon arrival at Kahului airport in Maui on Tuesday, a body was found in the wheel well of one of the main landing gears on a United aircraft,’ United told DailyMail.com in a statement on Wednesday.
‘United is working with law enforcement authorities on the investigation.’
The airline added that it’s not clear how or when the person accessed the wheel well.
‘The Maui Police Department is currently conducting an active investigation regarding a deceased individual discovered on an incoming flight from the mainland this afternoon. At this time, no further details are available,’ police said in a statement, as reported by Hawaii News Now.
Hawaii Department of Transportation officials also confirmed the gruesome discovery on the plane.
A dead body was found on the wheel of a United Airlines plane after it landed at Maui’s airport in Hawaii
UA flight 202 took off from Chicago at 9.50am Tuesday and arrived in Maui at 2pm local time
It comes on one of the busiest travel weeks of the year as millions take flights during the holidays.
The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers through January 2.
Airlines expect to have their busiest days on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
Also on Tuesday, American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide because of a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive and winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive.
As a result, flights were delayed across American’s major hubs, with only 36 percent of the airline’s 3,901 domestic and international flights leaving on time, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. Fifty-one flights were canceled.
Because the holiday travel period lasts weeks, airports and airlines typically have smaller peak days than they do during the rush around Thanksgiving, but the grind of one hectic day followed by another takes a toll on flight crews. And any hiccups — a winter storm or a computer outage — can snowball into massive disruptions.
A woman looks at departing flight information as American Airlines resumed its flights after a technical glitch on Christmas Eve
This will be the first holiday season since a Transportation Department rule took effect that requires airlines to give customers automatic cash refunds for canceled or significantly delayed flights.
Most air travelers were already eligible for refunds, but they often had to request them.
